Leave Out All the Rest
by Watson-A-Name92
Summary: Sequel to Diary of Jane. With Toni still missing, Jane doubles her efforts to find her. The task proves difficult with Sawyer gone and Jack doubting Toni is even alive. The odds change with an offer from a man named Henry, who knows more than he should.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi and welcome to the sequel to Diary of Jane! :D Alrighty, enough sappiness. Not much else to say. I made the flashback more show like, and that's really it. I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to review. I don't own LOST, insert rest of generic disclaimer here.**

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><p><em>Jane Payton turned the corner onto her partner, Kevin Callis' street. The man was two hours late for work, and that just didn't sit well with her. Sure, emergencies happened, but Kevin would've called her all the same. He himself always called every day to check up and check in with her. She pulled up to the house, and saw something that definitely sent up a warning flag in her mind. The front door was wide open. Kevin, nor apparently his wife Monica would have kept the door open under any circumstances, especially in Miami Dade. "What the Hell…?" She parked the car and made sure her walkie-talkie was on in case backup was needed. The situation was just screaming that something was wrong. She got out of the car and headed over to the front stoop. "Kevin? Monica? Are you home? It's Jane- Kevin's partner on the force?" She called. She strained to listen for a response, and when none came, she headed towards the side of the yard where the fence led to the backyard. "Kev? Monica?" Still nothing. She looked around, then hopped the fence, peeking around. Still no trace of them. She bit her lip, then went back into the front yard, then moved into the house slowly. "Kev? Monica?" She jumped and reached for her gun when there was a crash and a few scraping sounds. She relaxed when she saw it was Buck, the retired K-9 unit Golden Retriever Kevin had taken in the previous year. "Hey, Bucky. Just me, boy."<em>

_The dog whined and circled around her before nudging her hand._

_Jane frowned. She definitely didn't like the situation now. It took a lot to get Buck so antsy. "What is it, boy?"_

_Buck whined and went over to the doorway leading to the living room before looking back at her._

_Jane swallowed hard. Something told her he was trying to tell her to follow him, and she doubted she wanted to see what he was about to show her. "I'm coming, Buck." She followed him, and the dog continued into the living room. The woman's heart sunk when she saw the dog seem to duck down before disappearing completely into the kitchen and whining a moment later. "Oh, God. Please just be some dead animal, please be a dead animal- a dead small animal." She added, getting a hold on her walkie talkie. She went into the kitchen and her heart just about stopped when she saw Buck lying down next to something._

_That something happened to be Kevin, unconscious and crumpled in a heap on the floor._

_Jane bolted over to him. "KEVIN?"_

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><p>Jane looked around. The tension in the caves could've been cut with a knife. The existence of the Others was being questioned by everybody, and in turn, there were arguments going on everywhere, and where there weren't arguments, there were hushed discussions. Charlie, for one, seemed to be the most adamant that the Others didn't exist, and Jane was getting tired of trying to calm down the arguments that the man was starting. When she saw two people in the fifth group he was trying to convince look uncomfortable, Jane approached him. "Hey, Char, give it a rest, huh? We're all tired, and worried, and in no mood to talk about this?"<p>

Charlie scoffed. "Well someone's got to have the confidence that we're not all going to get killed. I mean-"

His argument was cut short when Shannon approached them. "Have you guys seen Vincent?"

Jane blinked. "Uh, no. Charlie, have you?"

Charlie shook his head. "No. Why, he's run off?"

Shannon glared at him, clenched her jaw, then stormed off.

Charlie looked at Jane. "What d'you suppose that was about?"

"No idea." Jane shrugged.

Charlie shifted from foot to foot. "So… what do you think? Are there Others coming to get us, just based on a smoke signal and a crazy woman's say alone?"

Jane shook her head. "Charlie, I don't know, I just… Ethan… Ethan is what I go by with that. If Ethan wasn't on the plane, and there's really no other place for him to come from but here, and this whole hatch thing… Yes, I believe there are people after us. Do I believe that they're coming now? I don't even know what to think." She sighed, seeing Charlie looked like he was about to press on with the subject. "How's Claire doing?" She asked, refusing to give him the chance.

Charlie seemed to relax, catching the hint. "She's fine, a lot better now that Aaron's back. Who wouldn't be, really?" He shrugged. "Hey, that reminds me- do you know what Aaron means in any language?"

Jane laughed. "I was wondering that same thing, Char. Maybe she just likes the sound of the name and doesn't care about the meaning."

Charlie frowned. "You think?"

Jane smiled. "Like I said, who knows, but hey, she seems to like it if it came to her that quick, so what does it matter?"

Charlie made a face. "I don't mind or anything. I was just curious."

Jane laughed. "I know, Char. I'm just messing with you."

"Yeah, you police, always making the hard-to-catch jokes." Charlie replied with a grin.

Jane prodded his arm playfully, then sat down with him, leading to a comfortable silence that lasted a while. However, that changed fast when Shannon came out of nowhere, saying something about Walt. The two friends looked at each other before hurrying over to the crowd gathering around her.

"I heard whispers."

Charlie pushed his way through towards the front of the crowd, when Jane took a spot in the middle of its flank. "What whispers? Who?"

"I don't know, Them!" Shannon snapped.

"Do you think something happened to the raft?" Sun asked, stepping closer to the woman.

Sayid pulled her back. "Nothing happened to the raft. Walt is with your husband, with Sawyer…"

Jane frowned. What was that about Walt? She figured she had just come in at the wrong time. She'd ask Shannon later.

"Sayid, I know what I saw." Shannon insisted.

The crowd started murmuring, and Jane looked up, seeing what the commotion was about. Jack, Kate, Locke and Hurley were at the mouth of the cave. The group around Shannon slowly migrated over to Jack's group, so Jane took advantage of the movement and pulled Shannon over to the side. "Shannon, what happened? What's this about Walt?"

Shannon scoffed. "Why tell you? You won't believe me, anyway."

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><p><em>"Kevin, oh my God. Kevin? Kevin!" Jane shook her partner's shoulder, trying to find the reason why he was unconscious. She unhooked her walkie talkie and barked her location and request for an ambulance before going back to check on him and his vital signs. She found a pulse at his neck, but she was nearly in tears when she realized it was extremely weak. "God, Kev, what happened? Come on, wake up, please…." She begged, but there was still no response. "Kevin, come on." She looked over him from head to toe, then noticed his hand was closed around something.<em>

_It was odd, being that he had just fallen in a heap, but his muscles were still active enough to do that._

_She opened his hand slowly and frowned when she saw a necklace placed in his palm. Her heart sunk. Where was Monica? Was she okay? Did she do this? She reached over and gave Buck a reassuring pat on the head when the dog whined again. "It's okay, boy. Everything's gonna be okay." She wasn't sure whether she was trying to convince more- herself or the dog. She settled for not touching the necklace in case someone was in fact responsible for this. She looked around, straining to hear any sirens in the distance. Something on the desk along the wall. It was a piece of paper, folded up and away from all the others. It was out of place, but the staged kind of out of place. She took a couple of pens out of the mesh holder in the corner and moved and rolled them so the note opened._

**_Kevin-_**

**_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Understand that I had to drug you. I told you all that was needed to be said. I love you too much to get you involved in my life. I'm trouble, and you're too good of a person to get involved in that, and the same goes about your family and your friends. Give your mother back the locket, tell her to give it to someone who really deserves it and the meaning behind it, because I don't. I doubt you will, but I hope you'll understand in time. I have to leave. Don't come looking for me. _**

_Jane put the pens back and looked away, clenching her jaw. Someone- Monica, by the sound of it, had drugged him and just left him? Her stomach turned. There wasn't even a name at the end of the note. Was that supposed to mean her name wasn't Monica, or was she just in a rush? "God, Kev, what…?" She trailed off and looked away, only to finally hear a siren. "Just hold on, Kev. Help's on the way." Her voice cracked on the last syllable. She leaned down again to run a hand through his hair, trying to keep contact with him- to try and convince his subconscious mind that someone still loved him enough that they'd be ruined without them._

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><p>"Shannon, please, just… don't sell me so short just yet." Jane told the younger woman.<p>

Shannon scoffed. "Why not? You look down on me anyway."

Jane sighed. "Shannon, I'm asking because if I understood correctly, you saw Walt when there's no chance that he could be on the island right now-"

"And he disappeared when Sayid came over. Yeah, I might be crazy. Happy now?"

Jane shook her head. "Shannon, listen. I'm asking because the same thing has been happening to me. Ask Jack, Hell, it happened to him, too!"

Shannon stared, then snorted again. "Great, move into Sawyer's place completely, go ahead, mock me." She got up to leave.

Jane grabbed her arm. "Shannon, calm down. I'm telling you the truth."

Shannon glared at her, but when she looked Jane in the eye, she saw honesty there. "…Seriously?"

Jane nodded slowly. "I've been seeing Toni since the second day she was missing. It's driving me crazy." She snapped her head in Jack's direction when he called out 'Hey' to silence the crowd that had suddenly started murmuring. Out of sheer habit, the two snapped their attention over to him .

The doctor looked around. "Everything's going to be be okay. Let's just take it easy, okay? Everything's going to be all right. We're gonna stay here tonight-together. We've still got four guns, we'll put lookouts on all the entrances. We're all gonna be alright if we stick together. The sun comes up in three hours and we're all gonna be here to see that happen. I promise."

There was a small thump from behind them, and they all turned to see Locke putting his bag down.

"John, what're you doing?" Jack asked after a moment.

"I'm getting some cable." Locke replied.

Jack licked his lips. "What for?"

"It's for the hatch. I'm going in."

Jack got off the rock, and everyone watched him. "You really think that's the smartest thing to do right now, John?"

Locke shrugged. "I doubt it. In fact, you're right. The safest thing is to stay here and wait for morning- wait for these others to see if they ever show up-"

Jane flinched. Now that was the worst thing he could've said in front of the whole damn camp. "Damn it…" She squeezed her way through the crowd and went over to them. When Jack put his arm out slightly to block her from going any further, she contemplated slapping his arm down, but decided against it. "Guys, this isn't the best talk to have here and now in front of everyone." She hissed.

Locke shrugged. "I agree with that, too, Jane."

Jane narrowed her eyes, then looked between the men. She groaned inwardly when they saw they were glaring each other down_. Christ, get the ruler, drop your pants, and get it over with already._ "Seriously. Take it easy or go somewhere else with this. We don't need people getting spooked." She insisted quietly.

Locke shrugged. "Can't argue there." He got his bag, the cable, and then headed out of the cave.

The gathered crowd watched him, then slowly dispersed.

Jane glanced over at Jack once they had, only to find he was setting her with a glare. "Oh, what is it, Jack? I'm- okay" She blinked and looked down when he took her hand and started pulling her towards the side of the cave.

Once they were a reasonable distance away from the crowd, Jack turned to her. "Jane, what was that? After all I said, he just blew off what I said and just went on, and you encouraged it?"

Jane scoffed. "What? Jack, if it ever comes down to you or him in anything like that, you should know I'm gonna be on your side. I just didn't want him to continue where he was going and scare everyone, and I didn't want them to see two of the leaders of this group going head to head. I've seen what that can lead to, and it's not pretty for anyone. That was in everyone's best interest. I didn't undermine you in any way, you got that?"

Jack shrugged. "Guess not, but you did kinda leave me hanging when I needed everyone to shut up."

Jane laughed. "Oh, you mean 'hey'? Babe, you did just fine. They would've been silent for two more seconds had it been me telling them to shut the Hell up. I was just sidetracked with Shannon seeing Walt-"

Jack frowned. "Wait, what?"

Jane blinked. "Oh, right, you came in during that. Apparently Shannon saw Walt in the jungle and when Sayid came over, the kid was gone, but it was like, a blink of an eye difference… kinda like how me seeing Toni is- and you with your dad."

Jack sighed ad nodded. "Hm…"

Jane smiled weakly. "Yeah…." She cast a sideways glance at everyone. "Hey, I thought Artz was with you…"

Jack inhaled. "Well, now it was your turn to miss something that I said. He uh… he didn't make it."

Jane raised her eyebrows , registering the information. Sure, she and Artz didn't quite see eye to eye much at all, and she was convinced Artz might have even hated her, but it still sucked that they lost someone. "How…?"

Jack flinched, then stepped closer to her and leaned down to be closer to her ear. "There was a uh… problem with the dynamite."

Jane closed her eyes and moved back. "Geez…"

Jack nodded slowly. "I can count on you to keep that under wraps, right?"

"Uh huh. Can I count on you to not go He-Man and go after Locke for challenging you?"

Jack nodded. "You know it."

She smiled. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I wanna go check on Claire." She leaned up to give him a peck on the cheek before going off in search of Claire.

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><p><em>Jane squirmed. She forgot how much she hated hospitals- the waiting room, hallways, ERs and patient rooms all the same. They all smelled too clean, they were too pearly white, and the air in the place was too… rushed but relaxed at the same time. She pressed further back into her chair- the same chair she had sat in the last three days of Kevin's treatment. His situation started off simple. Sure enough, whoever Monica really was had drugged him- not with a lethal amount, but enough to put him out for a few hours. It got worse when something in the drug started to give Kevin some sort of allergic reaction after a couple of days. Why it took so long, she didn't know and didn't much care to know, either. She just hoped her partner would come out okay, or at least somewhat okay at this rate. He had gone into surgery two hours before to try and get something to help clear his airway. The call to try and get a consultation from some surgeon Christian Shepherd had taken longer than the doctors would've liked. More than she would've liked, anyway. <em>

_"Jane?"_

_Jane lifted her head. She knew that voice. She just wished she hadn't under these circumstances. She smiled weakly at Kevin's mother. "Mrs. Callis…" She greeted._

_Kevin's mother waved her hand. "Oh, Jane, sweetheart, how many times have I told you to call me Suzanne?"_

_Jane laughed weakly. "Sorry. It's just a bit hard for me to really think right now… not that you wouldn't be much different, I mean he's your son…"_

_Suzanne nodded. "It's okay, honey." She took the younger woman's hand. "Any news?"_

_Jane shook her head. "No. He's still in surgery right now. They're doing all they can. God, I hate that phrase so much." She sat back down, and Suzanne sat beside her. Jane let out a whimper. "I don't… I don't want to lose him, Suzanne. I'd be as broken up as you'd be. He's been my best friend for so long… God, I didn't even meet this… Monica or whatever…. I should've… to try and feel her out… maybe I could've sensed she was trouble…" She choked back tears. "I didn't even go to his wedding, Monica or not…"_

_Suzanne frowned, tears forming in her own eyes. "Oh, Sweetheart, you were having family trouble that weekend. Kevin understood! He told me himself that even if he wanted you here, he would've never wanted you to get taken away from your family. As far as this… Monica, or Katherine, or whatever her name is, I met her numerous times and never suspected a thing, and you know just as well as I do that I'm good with things like that. Where do you think Kevin gets it? He came to you just in time on that dreadful day because he got a bad vibe, didn't he?"_

_Jane laughed weakly, but it turned into a low sob. "Kevin… Kevin saved my life that day, Suzanne. Of course I know… I just wish he pulls through this so I can return that favor, you know?"_

_Suzanne nodded, then leaned over and kissed the side of Jane's forehead. "Sweetheart, I need to give you something…"_

_Jane looked at her. "Hm?"_

_Suzanne held up something silver, and Jane's breath caught in her throat when she recognized it as the locket that Kevin had been holding when she found him._

_Suzanne sighed. "I know you probably don't want to wear something that the woman who did this to Kevin wore- that I have her no less, but… … the tradition is to pass it down to your daughter on her wedding day. Thing is, now with Monica… she was never really fit as a daughter, and at least she apparently could admit it, otherwise this wouldn't be here."_

_Jane frowned, catching on to what she was getting on. "Suzanne…"_

_Suzanne held her free hand up. "Jane, please. You've been there for Kevin, Kevin's been there for you. I even thought it would be you he would take to the altar… all that being said, you've been Kevin's true friend- a friend to all of us, and that means that you're the one who is really my daughter for this to be passed down, so."_

_Jane smiled through new tears and nodded. "I um… I'd be honored, then." Suzanne motioned for her to turn around, and Jane did without a thought, moving her hair aside so Suzanne could fasten the clasp. She turned back around and smiled at Suzanne._

_Suzanne took her hand. "Things will look up, darling, I promise."_

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><p>"Jane! Jane!"<p>

Jane turned her attention from a giggling Claire to Hurley as he hurried over. "Hurl? What is it?"

Hurley skidded to a halt beside her, putting his hand on her shoulder to steady himself as he caught his breath. "Jack went after Locke… to the hatch... alone… I'm worried about him." He announced between pants.

Jane groaned. "Jack, you idiot. I knew you wouldn't listen." She shook her head and stood up. "I'll go after him, Hurley, don't worry. Just tell Sayid where I'm going, and you're in charge as far as the chain of command, you got that?" She asked Hurley.

Hurley blinked. "Uh…"

Jane patted his cheek. "Good man. I'll be back. I'll walk slow in case Sayid doesn't like me going after him alone and wants to get me back in here." She jogged out of the cave and onto the path toward the hatch before Hurley could protest further. _Here we go again._


	2. Strapping

**a/n: Sorry the chapter's so short. It's like, four episodes packed into one chapter though. The good news is the next one should be longer, and it'll be a quicker update now that my freshman year of college is over. Anyways, there's also a poll up on my profile to see what you guys want in the future of this fic. I also give you fair warning that I may change the title of this fic to Look After You, because I had a paper with all the titles, and I lost it, and I recently realized that Leave Out All the Rest may have been the title for season three, so… yeah. Just letting y'all know. Enjoy. Let's see if we can keep up the high-ish number of reviews for the chapter, too. Can I ask you guys to shoot for a minimum of five for this one? (puppy face)**

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><p>Jane scooted under a fallen log, then climbed on top of it to get a higher viewpoint of the surrounding area. She hadn't found Jack the previous night and had headed back when there was no light whatsoever leaking through the trees. Now it was morning and there was no sign of him. She had gone from annoyed to worried about him fast, especially after both of his and Locke's spiel. She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Jack? Where are you, Doc?" She called. She sighed, then pivoted to see if she had missed something. What she didn't count on, however, was hearing footfalls, and when she was in the middle of turning to see who was running at her, she was getting tackled right off of the log. She hit the ground hard, and between the angle her head was at, along with the darkness, she couldn't tell who was on top of her, pinning her down. She let out a shriek and tried to knee whoever it was, doubling her efforts when they clamped their hand over her mouth.<p>

"Jane, it's me. It's me. It's Jack. Shut… up. Trust me."

Jane moved her head, and relaxed when sure enough, Jack's familiar eyes met hers. She went to ask what was going on, but he merely pressed his hand harder against his mouth and put his whole weight against her. She arched an eyebrow, then went absolutely rigid when she heard the odd, mechanical sound they had all heard before the trees had started to shake. A few moments later, she just stared as she saw black smoke that seemed laced with an electric current come racing through the trees a few yards from them. Jack pressed even closer against her, and didn't let up until the smoke was out of sight for at least a minute. He pushed himself upright, then got up before offering her a hand, looking around cautiously.

Jane took his hand and let him pull her up. "What… the Hell… was that? Is that was caused the trees… What?" Jane hissed.

"I don't know. I just remembered what the Hell that noise was, saw that thing, had the thought they were one in the same, and ran."

"Well, thanks, then." She brushed herself off. No sense in getting worried about another mystery that the damn island held. "…Now. Care to explain why you lied to me?"

Jack sighed. "You don't waste a second, do you?"

"Nope. Nothing surprises me here anymore, so why bother?"

"I just wanted to make sure that Locke wasn't gonna do anything stupid…"

"Jack Sparrow stupid, or Sawyer stupid?"

"You mean they're not the same thing?" Jack asked. "The point is there was someone in the hatch."

Jane's smile dropped. "What?"

"Someone I met from back home," Jack replied.

"…Really?"

Jack shrugged. "Yeah, and that's not the best part. He was down there with some old computer, and he's convinced if someone doesn't push one of the buttons after entering a bunch of numbers, the island, and the world are gonna be gone."

"…What?"

Jack tossed his hands up. "There's even a propaganda film that says so."

"Well, shit. So much for not being surprised about anything here."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "Whoa, wait, you believe that's the case? Like, we all die if the numbers don't go in?"

Jane blinked. "Don't you?"

Jack laughed. "No, but I just did it. Why? Pressure, and a lot of people did believe it. I'm honestly surprised you believed it so fast."

"I'm just rolling with the punches now, Babe. If that's the real case, push the damn button. I don't wanna die here… and give the guy we found a sandwich or something- some semi-real food that we have. What's his story, anyway?"

Jack shook his head and put his hands on his hips. "I don't even know. He ran off and I barely caught him before he said he wasn't gonna wait to see if I was wrong about the numbers and the button."

Jane sighed and nodded. "Anything else need to get written into the Island Inquirer?"

Jack shrugged again. "Other than we have people by the button because they're already paranoid about it based on word alone? I'll let you know. So, what're you doing out here?"

"Looking for you. You always check in, and everyone was getting panicky. You're the king, man. You go missing, the world goes to shit."

Jack laughed, then nodded back towards the beach. "You wanna go spread the news that I'm fine and was just caught up in the hatch?"

"Can the strapping hero come back with me in case that… thing comes back? It'll save me some time to relax. God knows we all need it."

Jack pretended to consider it, then nodded. "Why not? Come on."

Jane winked, then the two started to head back to the beach in silence for a few moments.

"Oh, and by the way… … 'strapping'?"

"Shut up. My vocabulary is adorable."

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><p>They got back to the camp, and like Jane had said, most of the survivors were relieved to see Jack alive and well. The doctor got a kick out if that fact, and after telling them they all worried too much, went on his own way, as did Jane. The cop curled up in her own tent and started to doodle, which ended up turning into doing a quick sketch of Charlie and Claire talking by the water. She wasn't thrilled with it, but figured it was worth keeping since it brightened her mood even in the slightest bit. She finished and shoved her notepad into her bag and watched the sunset. She found the daydream that followed went quite deep, because she let out a yelp when something landed in her lap.<p>

"Oh, my bad, Jane, sorry." Hurley flinched, then afraid of making the situation more awkward, scurried off.

Jane watched him, chuckled, then looked down. Her smile grew when she saw it was an Apollo bar that he had tossed into her lap. She heard Hurley tell someone a few feet away it had come from the hatch. Hell, at least whoever was down there had good taste. She didn't mind how old the thing was- it was food from back home, and that's what mattered. She had dealt with worse than old food on the island. As far as she was concerned, she was about to eat a girl's best friend, and she couldn't ever complain there.


	3. She Leans into Me

**A/N: Here's the length I was aiming for. I don't own LOST, blah blah blah. Enjoy... and where are my reviewers? Come on, tell me what you guys thought.**

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><p>Jane looked at her tent when she returned from her morning run, seeing Charlie and Hurley hanging around. She jogged over. "Guys, what's up?"<p>

Charlie shrugged. "Nothin'. Just curious how you were with being a cop looking for with missing or stolen items as opposed to kicking criminal ass."

Jane looked at Hurley, who smiled weakly and nodded. Sun kept her eyes down, looking almost ashamed "Alright, Sun, boys. I'll bite. What's missing?"

"My wedding ring…" Sun murmured.

Jane arched an eyebrow, then frowned when she realized what she said. "Oh. Um.. yikes… Oh God, sorry that was lame. Sure, Ill jump in and help. Do you have people looking for it?"

"Kate, Hurley, Jack and I." Sun replied, still looking down.

"Sun, head up. I'm sure it's just in the sand in the last spot you were." Jane suggested.

"But I checked already." Sun replied. "It's not in the garden… or by the clothesline… or by my tent."

"Did you check the caves?" Jane asked.

"I had it with me the last time I came back... at least I think I did." Sun shrugged.

Jane nodded. "It doesn't hurt to try. What's it look like? Is it simple? Anything inscribed? Gold, silver? I'll go check along the path, you guys just start moving some sand around, okay?"

Sun shook her head. "I was only hoping you might've come across it. You don't have to-"

"No, it's okay. Really. Besides, I'm still looking for Toni and haven't checked for anything in a while. I'll go and come back if I find anything. It's the least I can do. Deal?" She tilted her head and smiled.

Sun hesitated, then nodded. "Fine… but only… because I know you will not take no as an answer. It's gold, nothing on it." She smiled.

Jane winked. "Never, sweetheart. I'll head out now." She looked at Hurley and Charlie. "Will you two help hold down the fort?"

" 'Course," Charlie replied, as Hurley nodded and said, "always do."

Jane headed off in the direction of the path to the caves. She made it a quarter of the way there when she heard the odd, half mechanical, half animalistic screech she had heard the previous day- the sound that had come with that weird cloud of smoke. It was her job as a police officer to investigate odd things, but in this case, she was willing to let it slide. She heard trees shaking in the distance to her left, so she just about dove into to bushes to her right.

However, the rustling, although slow, continued on its path toward where she was.

Jane settled for army crawling further along the brush, away from the rustling. When she heard it get no more than thirty feet away, she froze and got as low to the ground as she could. She heard it change its path, and glanced back to see retreating back smoke. She waited a few more seconds until the noise dissipated completely before she got up, and using her new path, tried to head towards the caves.

She stopped when she saw the path, and the rocks Jack had put down to mark the last fork in the path before the survivors could reach the caves. Figuring she had already lost enough ground, she ducked down and scanned the path, looking for any glint that could end up being Sun's ring. She stopped in her tracks when she saw something shine in the sunlight, then looked further when that shine disappeared, but there was another not too far away in a small amount of vegetation and brown dirt. "Is that you?" Jane muttered. "Great, now I'm talking to an inatimate object…" She made her way over to the plants and dirt, only to find that the shine was gone. "Ahh, Damn it." She started brushing her hand around the plants, trying to relocate the source of the shine.

It still didn't uncover itself.

The police officer sighed, leaning down, then lying down completely when that didn't help. _How hard could it be to spot a ring in dark brown dirt?_ She ran her hands over the surface again, then settled for checking in pile of dirt she had created moments before. She reached around it, patting it to try and see anything. She scooted closer.

What she didn't count on, however, was the ground beneath her, in turn, shift a bit too much for her liking. "Wait, what the He-" She shifted her weight again, and that made matters worse.

Part of the ground under her arms gave way completely, and she tumbled down the incline it created. She barely had time to mentally curse erosion from all the rain the island had before she hit the ground, rolled a couple of feet, then let out a yelp when she fell yet again. The sense that she had when falling made her draw the conclusion that the second fall wasn't supposed to happen. She hit the ground hard, then her head connected with something softer than the ground, just slightly elevated. "…Owwwwww."

"What the Hell?"

"Hold on, is that-"

"Holy sh… Copper?"

Jane kept her eyes closed, trying to rid herself of the splitting pain everywhere. She knew the second and third voice, that nickname. Problem one- She wasn't supposed to hear it now. Problem two- the ground under her suddenly felt less like ground and more like a body- a body whose build seemed head shot up, despite the rest of her body's protest. "Sawyer?"

The man stared back at her for a moment, then looked to the side and scowled.

Jane frowned. "Sawyer, what-WHOA!" She could only just stay put when he flipped her over so he was on top of her, and the wind was knocked out of her for the second time in moments.

"Put the gun down, woman! She's one of us!" Sawyer barked.

Jane frowned. "Sawyer, what the Hell…?" She looked in the direction he was and frowned, seeing a dark-haired woman pointing a gun at her. "What the Hell?" She repeated.

"Who are you?" The woman demanded.

"Who am I? Who are you?" Jane demanded.

"Well, being that I'm the one with a gun, I say you go first."

"I said she's one of us, she's one of us!" Sawyer barked.

One of us? Michael? Jin? Where were they? What was going on? Jane looked behind the dark-haired woman, seeing another woman, and an older man. She looked back at Sawyer and gaped, seeing a burly black man behind him. "Sawyer, what's…?"

Sawyer glared at her to silence her, then got up slowly, wincing as he did so.

Jane stared at him, then noticed why. She had seen far too many bullet wounds to miss the one on his left shoulder. "Sawyer, talk to me. Who are these peo-PLE!" She nearly got whiplash from the speed the Southerner used to pull her behind him. She looked down when he reached back and brought his arm back, blocking her from the dark-haired woman even more. "Sawyer, talk to me."

"I asked who she was!" The woman repeated, pointing the gun at Jane again.

"Can you stop being paranoid one second? She's a cop from our camp!" Sawyer motioned in the other unarmed crowd's direction, and Jane spotted Jin in back. "One. Of. Us!"

"Jane. Friend." Jin said, standing up.

"Sawyer, who the Hell are these people?" Jane hissed.

"Apparently, more survivors… from the tail end of the plane." Sawyer replied, turning to her briefly.

The dark-haired woman clenched her jaw. "How'd you find us if you're one of them? They told me they had a raft and… something went wrong?"

Jane looked at Sawyer. "Something went wrong? What happened?"

"Not now, Copper…" Sawyer muttered, then glared at the burly man. "So help you, Rambo, if you point that knife any closer to her, I will use it to cut off what it's compensating for."

Jane turned, and sure enough, the man was holding what looked like a makeshift machete dangerously close to her side. She subconsciously pressed closer to Sawyer.

In turn, Sawyer switched arms with her, using his right to come up and take hold of her waist.

The dark-haired woman looked between the two of them. "Fine. You said his name, and he has a nickname for you. I'll buy it for now, but if you're lying…" She pulled the gun back, then pointed it upright. "It'll be the last lie you tell."

Jane looked her up and down. "You guys are really survivors?"

The woman frowned. "What? Disappointed?"

Jane arched an eyebrow, then jumped when someone came bursting through the vegetation in front of them.

A blonde women joined the crowd. "Michael just left."

"What?" The dark-haired woman demanded.

Jane looked at Sawyer. "Michael? Did she just say Michael? Are all of you okay? What happened?"

"I'll tell you later." Sawyer muttered.

The dark-haired woman looked around. "We're leaving. Let's move. Take your friend with you."

Sawyer muttered something under his breath, then stepped back in order to put his arm around her protectively. "What do you mean we're leaving?"

"Your friend just ran off into the jungle" The dark-haired woman replied.

"Michael, he just… left." The blonde insisted, then looked at Jane. "Who's this?"

"One of ours." Sawyer replied. "She just…" he smirked. "Dropped in."

Jin stepped up and started speaking in Korean, looking from Jane to Sawyer.

"What's he saying?" The older man in the women's group asked.

Jane shook her head. "We don't know."

Jin continued speaking in his native tongue for a while, then looked at Sawyer. "Walt,"

Jane frowned. "That we know, but…" She looked at Sawyer. "Care to explain what the Hell happened? Is Walt okay?"

Sawyer hesitated, then frowned. "No…"

Jane's breath caught in her throat. What was that supposed to mean? What the Hell had she missed? She looked back at Jin.

Jin looked back at her. "Walt," He repeated, more firmly this time.

The dark-haired woman walked forward. "Let's go. We're moving out now. Cindy, water," The brunette woman walked a short distance away. "Libby, radio," the blonde, Libby, also moved to get her assigned item.

It took a moment for Sawyer and Jane to register the last item. "Radio…?" They looked at each other, then the dark-haired woman. "You have a radio?" They watched as Libby got it out of her bag. "Does it work?" Sawyer looked at the dark-haired woman. "Can we use it?"

The woman smirked. "Wow, what a great idea." She said sarcastically. She looked from Jane, back to him. "You gonna slow us down?"

"No!"

Everyone turned in Jin's direction.

The Korean man pointed out towards the jungle. "Michael!"

"We're leaving before he can tell them where we are." The head woman replied.

Jin walked over to Sawyer and Jane. "Michael…"

Jane felt Sawyer's hold on her tighten as he sighed.

The conman shook his head. "What're we supposed to do, wait for him?"

"Where are we going?" Jane asked.

"Back to our camp." Sawyer replied. "Jin, he ain't comin' back without his kid."

Jane's heart dropped now. "Without his kid… what happened to Walt? I don't give a shit about what's happening here. What happened to you four? Where's Walt?" She let out a protesting moan when Sawyer clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Walt, he ain't comin' back without Walt. Do you really think he's gonna find him?"

Jane tensed, then looked at Jin. Even with the language barrier, Jin seemed to have understood.

"In case you haven't noticed, it's every man for himself out here." Sawyer continued. "Mike's gotta worry about Mike, I gotta worry about me."

Jin glared at Sawyer for a while, then turned and started to walk in the opposite direction.

The burly man put his hand out, blocking Jin. "Wait."

Jin paused, then punched the man hard in the face. The action only earned him a headbutt to the forehead in return. The Korean fell like a ton of bricks.

"JIN!" Jane pried herself free from Sawyer and ran over to him. Hell, he hadn't been quite welcoming with her, but the point was it was apparently her people versus theirs, so she was sure as Hell going to come to her peoples' aid. She helped the man to his feet slowly.

Jin pushed her away, but it was more gentle than she expected, and she found she was back in Sawyer's arms seconds later. "One of you tell me what the Hell is going on! What happened? Where's Walt?" She demanded, watching the glare down restart. She started to step forward to interfere again.

Sawyer caught her around the shoulders again and pulled her back to his chest, hissing in pain when she hit his wound. "Take it easy…"

"What, so this mystery man can kill him?" Jane demanded.

She watched as Jin stormed off in another direction.

Jane fought against Sawyer. "Lemme go."

"Hell no. If you haven't noticed, you're the only one I care about in this little troop here. I ain't lettin' you take on Shaft over there."

"I've had worse."

Sawyer only tightened his grip on her, then saw the man following Jin into the jungle. "The Hell are they going?"

"After your friend. Now let's move." The dark-haired woman insisted before heading in the opposite direction Michael and the other man had gone.

Sawyer and Jane looked at each other when the other members of her group looked over. The Southerner shrugged before putting his arm around her shoulders again. They headed after the group as they started walking.

After a few minutes of silence, Jane looked at Sawyer. "Sawyer, talk to me. What happened? Where's Walt? Did one of these guys shoot you?" She reached over and touched the spot beside his wound, then sent him an apologetic look when he flinched. "Please tell me…"

Sawyer sighed. "We were fine on the raft… then we spotted a boat and waved it down.. thing is… a bunch of perverted creeps were on the boat. They destroyed the raft, shot me, and took Walt… we didn't stand a chance… floated back to the Island here… found these assholes."

Jane's heart sunk once again. "Oh my God… Walt… Michael… you guys…" She leaned back in order to loop her own arm behind his back, then tucked her head under his chin. "How is… did they treat the wound?"

"Does it seem like they're the kind that would?" Sawyer asked.

"True… it just… I hate to break it to you, but… it looks… it looks like it's infected."

"Wouldn't surprise me…" Sawyer muttered, then looked around when they reached a clearing and the sunlight hit them. "Hold on, Copper… let me down."

"What?" Jane frowned.

"Down," Sawyer repeated, then knelt down slowly, taking her down with him.

Jane sent him a sympathetic look, brushing the hair out of his face. She looked him over, then looked at the people leading the trek.

The dark-haired woman turned and ordered the others to stop.

Jane took it as a small victory and looked back at Sawyer. She sighed and reached over, starting to unbutton the first few buttons of his shirt.

Sawyer arched an eyebrow. "What the Hell are you doing, Copper?"

"Trying to clean this up as much as possible."

"You're only gonna slow us down doing that." The dark-haired woman replied.

"We'll take that chance." Jane snapped at her.

The dark-haired woman frowned, then took the canteen she had and tossed it to her. "Give him that, then use it to help clean him up."

Jane nodded curtly, then passed it to him. "I don't like her…" she muttered.

He chuckled weakly. "None of us do, Princess. " He raised the canteen to her. "Bottoms up." He took a swig. "Alright, do your worst."

"Make it fast." The dark-haired woman instructed. "We're still waiting on one of ours, but she tracks well. She can catch up."

Jane shot her a warning look before she peeled the part of Sawyer's shirt around the wound back, flinching along with him when he hissed in pain. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

"Kiss it better and we'll call it even?" Sawyer smirked.

Jane smiled weakly, then examined the wound. It didn't look good at all. She knew he was lucky if it wasn't totally, fatally infected at this rate. She cursed and reached over, tearing part of her sleeve off. She put some of the water onto it, and dabbed at the wound, apologizing once again as he hissed and tried to pull back. She turned it over and dabbed at it again, frowning when it barely got the loose dried blood away from the wound. She tore her other sleeve off. "Just… try to hold it there, okay?"

Sawyer grunted and did as he was told. "Betcha never thought you'd be doin' this, huh?"

Jane shrugged. "No, I did… though I imagined we'd be home… and I woulda been the one who shot you… and I'd clean you up because I felt bad deep, deep down… really deep."

Sawyer chuckled. "Glad to know you care, Nurse Joy."

Jane arched an eyebrow. "You're lucky you got shot or I'd be smacking you right now."

"Enough with the romantic crap. We have to go." The dark-haired woman replied.

Jane frowned at her, then looked at Sawyer. "You gonna be okay?"

"Not for a while, Darlin'."

"Then I'm not moving." Jane replied, sitting closer to him.

The dark-haired woman glared at them, then turned around. "Fine. We'll go on our own."

"And how d'you expect to do that with me gone and your other guide off on his own?" Sawyer asked.

The woman turned back to them. "Walk across the Island. Follow the beach… and Eko's coming back."

"Eko?" Jane asked.

"The big guy, probably." Sawyer replied.

The dark-haired woman nodded.

Jane clenched her jaw. "And… you are?"

"Ana-Lucia. You? I doubt your name is 'Copper'."

"Jane," Jane replied.

Ana-Lucia looked between the two. "You guys married?"

"Six years the day before we crashed." Sawyer replied.

Jane shot him a look, then figured she didn't mind lying to the woman in front of her. The woman- Ana-Lucia, whatever, just set off alarms in her head.

Ana-Lucia shook her head, then turned back around. "Figured. That is why I will never tie myself down."

Jane tried not to laugh at the 'so there' smirk Sawyer sent her. The man looked at Jane. "Up, Princess, let's go."

Jane nodded and helped him stand, taking her spot from before, tucking herself against him.

Ana-Lucia studied them, then looked at something in the distance. She looked alarmed for a few seconds, then relaxed. "I was starting to think you got lost."

"You guys covered tracks well, I can't help it if… Oh …my God…"

Sawyer grunted, not liking getting rushed only for them to stop right off the bat. "Are we missing something?" He looked at Jane, who looked completely shell-shocked. "…Copper?"

Jane opened her mouth slowly, then shut it firmly. Her arm dropped from his side, and she turned around slowly to the newcomer. Her heart dropped once again, before it skyrocketed. "GABBY!"

"JANE!"


	4. Power Play

Sawyer knew better than to not scoot back when the two blondes made eye contact. He barely had time to move his legs before the sisters practically tackled each other.

The two sisters were sobbing the next moment, barely allowing two inches of space to separate them. They were talking, but completely incoherent as well. Each of them took hold of the other's shoulders, face, neck, and hair before pulling each other back into a hug.

Jane looked back at Gabriella. She couldn't believe the last few seconds had happened. She didn't even care. Her big sister who she had thought was dead for weeks, was alive, and in her arms. She let out a whimper and tightened her grip on her sister before finally pulling away. "How… I thought… you went to the bathroom- the tail end of the plane… you were back there when… the crash…that one body… must've… just must've looked like you, and Toni thought… Oh God."

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah… how'd you get… I thought we just had the three… " Gabriella looked at Sawyer and Jin. "…Where are the other two?"

"Michael ran off to see about his kid, apparently, Jin and your guy went off to find him, and I… well, like Sawyer said earlier, dropped in. One of us back at… our camp lost something, and I got… distracted, and next thing you know, I tripped over something and landed on him." She pointed at Sawyer, who was looking back at the two with an arched eyebrow.

Gabriella frowned. "You're really with them?"

"… We… well, 'til now, anyway, were the only survivors… we all grouped together and that was that."

Ana-Lucia spoke up. "Look, congrats that you guys just found out that the other was alive after not seeing them, but we really have to go… _They_ could be coming."

"They…?" Jane asked, then looked at Sawyer. "…Others… and did you know…?"

Sawyer shrugged. "That's my guess, and I'm sorry, I was a little distracted bleeding out to even get my thoughts in order to tell you."

"Anything else you forgot to mention, then?"

Sawyer blinked up at her, then pointed at the older man in the group. "You see that guy?"

The older man tore teary eyes away from the sisters' reunion to Sawyer, realizing he was the person in question.

Jane looked at him, then back at Sawyer. "Yeah…?"

Sawyer nodded. "Meet Bernard,"

Jane frowned as realization dawned on her. "As in… Rose's Bernard?" She looked at the man, Bernard, who in turn got teary-eyed all over again and nodded. She stared, then beamed. "Really great to meet you. I'd be shaking your hand so much right now that I might've ended up ripping it off, but I don't want to leave her." She pointed at Gabriella.

Bernard put his hands up. "Don't you worry about that. I'd do the same… I will be doing the same, by the sound of it."

Jane nodded, then looked back at Gabriella before leaning against her.

Gabriella beamed, then slowly frowned. "Toni… is Toni okay?"

Jane flinched. She should've seen that one coming. "… I don't know."

"You don't know? What does that mean?"

"I mean she went missing after some creep took her and two others in our group."

Libby lifted her head. "Like us…"

"Fantastic," Sawyer added.

Gabriella sat down slowly. "… How long?"

"Days, weeks, I've lost count." Jane shook her head. "… I'm scared, I'll admit that."

Gabriella looked her sister over, then nodded. Jane being scared was a rare thing, so she knew it was more serious than she thought it was seconds before. She sat down slowly, suddenly lost in her own thoughts.

Ana-Lucia scoffed. "Gabby, we have to go-"

"Give us more time to rest!" Libby objected. "We keep going like this, we're just easy targets."

The two women stared each other down for a while, then Ana-Lucia reluctantly nodded. "Fine… again."

They took a solid hour to rest that time around. The sisters had caught up as much as possible, gave better introductions of the members of their own subgroups, and then made small talk. The others listened in for the most part, or did talked among themselves. Darkness fell before any of them expected, and most had dozed off or were waiting idly for the word to move on. Even Jane had started to nod off against Sawyer's side when he gave a shrug, preventing sleep to finally take her.

"She's lost." He deadpanned.

Jane lifted her head off his good shoulder and blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the firelight.

Ana-Lucia glared at him. "I am not lost."

"Then tell me, Ponce DeLeon, which way are we supposed to go?"

"Sawyer, don't start anything else. We don't need it- you don't, either." Jane muttered before leaning against his shoulder again.

Sawyer glanced at her. "What's with you suddenly finding me comfortable?"

"Shut up, you're a good pillow." Jane muttered.

Sawyer smirked, ignoring Gabriella's little chuckle, then looked at Ana-Lucia. "Well?"

Ana-Lucia shook her head. "Alright then, Genius, which way would you go?"

Sawyer lifted his head. "Hey, I'm with you. Let's sit tight and wait for Mister Eko to show up and guide us."

Ana-Lucia pushed off the tree she was leaning on. "If your friend didn't run off, Eko would still be here, now wouldn't he?"

Sawyer smirked. "I'd continue but Mommy Dearest here asked me nicely not to." Sawyer countered, then the smirk turned into a genuine smile when Jane muttered a less-than-friendly two word phrase against his arm.

Ana-Lucia shrugged. "Fine here. It just proves how you people obviously play favorites. You obey her and threaten whoever threatens her, but if Mike goes off, you're willing to leave him behind."

"He knows his way around, and Mike just cares about himself and his kid-"

"Glad you feel that way."

Now that got Jane's attention. She lifted her head up. "Mike?"

Michael came into view, and he frowned at her. "Jane? How'd you get here?"

"Not so long story, but I don't wanna get into it now." Jane replied.

"Fair enough." Michael looked at Sawyer. "I take you didn't miss me."

"Didn't expect to see you again." Sawyer replied.

Michael gave him a hard look, the walked to the other side of the gathering. Jin appeared behind him and spoke Korean, looking at Sawyer's injured shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, Chewie, I know. My arm's about to fall off."

Jane swatted his thigh. "Don't say that."

"What? You can't tell me you weren't thinkin' it." Sawyer replied.

"Doesn't mean I'd say that and practically jinx you."

"I thought the cops didn't believe in jinxes." Sawyer countered.

"I'm one out of two of a kind. I'd introduce you to the other one, but as you know, that's a bit difficult for numerous reasons." Jane replied, casting a sideways glace as the last man- Eko, if she had to guess, also came into the area. She looked at Gabriella, who in turn looked from Sawyer to her, and smiled in a way Jane wasn't too fond of. She decided to talk to her about it later, more so when Eko muttered 'I saw them.' Just like that, everyone was up in arms, asking questions.

"What?"

"No?"

"How many?"

"Did you see the kids?"

"Libby!" Ana-Lucia snapped at the last inquirer. "We're moving. Now." Ana-Lucia looked around.

This time, there were no protests. They all got up and reluctantly followed Ana-Lucia. They walked slowly, taking a few, but shorter breaks along the way. Once again, before they knew it, it was daylight. They were in the middle of a third clearing when one of Sawyer's knees buckled and he fell to his knees.

Jane, who was a few feet ahead, walking beside Gabriella, turned sharply. "Sawyer!" She bolted over to him and knelt beside him.

"I'm fine, Princess, I'm good."

Jane glanced to her side when Libby knelt down beside her.

"Can I look at your shoulder?" Libby asked, pulling at his shirt.

"You a doctor?" Sawyer asked.

"Clinical psychologist," Libby corrected.

"A shrink? Maybe you ought'a talk to my shoulder…" He chuckled at his own joke.

Libby turned to Jane and arched an eyebrow. When the police officer just rolled her eyes and shook her head, Libby turned her attention back to the man. "How'd you get shot anyway?"

"With a gun," Sawyer replied.

"Sawyer, come on!" Jane scolded.

"He got shot protecting my kid." Michael supplied, walking over and resting his hand on Jane's shoulder.

An awkward silence loomed for a few seconds. Sawyer was the first to break it. "It's bad, right?"

"Yeah, it's bad… but it's not real bad." Libby replied. "You'll be okay." She nodded towards the front of the group. "Let's go."

Jane and Michael lifted Sawyer to his feet.

Sawyer shook them off. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

Michael and Jane exchanged looks, then settled for flanking Sawyer, barely leaving a foot of space between either of them and the other man. They watched him stumble for a while and loosened up only slightly when Sawyer's gait improved just a bit. They kept walking,changing course at one point. They headed back into the jungle, and stopped when Jin started to fuss over Sawyer's shoulder. Ana-Lucia snapped at everyone to keep quiet. Michael, for one, couldn't take much more of her orders.

"What, we can't talk at all?"

"If you keep talking, you'll get us all killed." Ana-Lucia replied.

"By what? Them? I thought They were a day back that way." Michael replied, pointing at the path they had come from.

"How about you shut your mouth and get your buddy over there moving?" Ana-Lucia snapped.

Hey!" Jane countered. "How about you stop giving my friends lip and you shut up yourself? We're not deaf, we can hear something distant that isn't us."

"You know what, Bitch, keep your mouth shut, because I'm the one with the gun here."

"Ana!" Gabriella gasped in protest, then grabbed Jane, who stepped forward, looking Hell bent on beating down Ana-Lucia.

"Ay! You wanna start calling people bitch, compare yourself to them first. You're one to talk!" Sawyer cut in.

Ana-Lucia advanced on him. "What I say goes now. You keep your mouth shut, or you die. Do you understand? Now let's move." She started walking.

"What happened to you people?" Michael demanded.

Ana-Lucia turned back around slowly.

Michael walked over to her. "You want us to take you back with us? Fine. But you want us to keep quiet, and you call my friend a bitch for objecting about you treating us like dirt? Then you have to tell me why I have to put up with it."

Ana Lucia looked over at her people, then back to Michael. She took a deep breath, then began. "They came the first night that we got here… they took three of us. Nothing happened for two weeks, then they came back. They took nine more. They're smart… and they're animals. They can be anywhere, at anytime. Now we're moving through the jungle- their jungle, just so you can save your little hick friend here. If you think that one gun and one bullet is gonna stop them… think again. So shut your mouth, and keep moving." She turned around and started to lead the group again.

"They took my son…" Michael breathed.

Ana-Lucia turned back and nodded. "They took a lot of things." She continued to walk on.

Michael, Jin, Sawyer and Jane all exchanged looks. Jane motioned at Gabriella to go ahead, and she dropped back to her men. "When we rest again, I'm gonna jump her and get the gun soon. Mike, Jin, be ready to back me up." She whispered.

Michael frowned. "You can't be serious. She's outta her mind. She'll fight you-"

"Exactly on the first bit. Do you want someone that unstable with a gun? I don't. I can take her. I have a few inches and pounds on her." She replied, bowing her head.

"I'll back you up, Copper." Sawyer replied.

Jane smiled weakly and gave his cheek a gentle, soundless pat.

Another few minutes passed, and Sawyer's energy plummeted during that time. By the time they reached another clearing, Jin was just about dragging Sawyer beside him, and Jane was on his other side, ready to catch him. She kept looking at Ana-Lucia, waiting for the ideal moment.

Bernard, a few feet ahead, noticed them get even further behind than they had lately. "Here, let me help you."

Jin grunted, and Jane shook her head. "It's fine. Nothing against you, but I doubt he's even trust you with himself."

Bernard hesitated, then nodded and turned back, catching up to his part of the group.

Michael, who heard the exchange, dropped back to help them. "Let me help, you guys have had him for an hour now."

"You suddenly give a damn about me?" Sawyer demanded, lifting his head in Michael's direction.

"Sawyer, honestly, stop." Jane ordered.

Sawyer squeezed out of Jane's grip. "Bite me, Copper. All of you, leave me the Hell alone…" He sped up towards the middle of the group, but after three steps, he collapsed in a heap.

"Sawyer!" Jane bolted over to him, Jin and Michael hot at her heels. They all lifted his upper body, scared to find that he was practically nothing but dead weight- he was almost out cold. Jane looked up towards the others. "Hey! Hold on!"

The others turned to see what had happened.

Michael patted Sawyer's cheek. "Hey, hey, come on."

Sawyer looked up at him weakly. "…I would've left you behind… I did leave you behind."

Jane flinched and combed his hair back away from his face with her hand.

"Shut up, I know, try to…" Michael trailed off.

"I did leave you behind…" Sawyer repeated.

"Yeah, well, good thing I ain't you."

Jane offered a weak smile and combed back Sawyer's hair again as the men smiled at each other, seeing eye-to-eye for what seemed like the first time. That was, until Sawyer's eyes rolled back and his eyelids drooped. "…Sawyer?"

Michael shook him, but this time, Sawyer didn't come to right away.

Jane looked back at the others, who were still just staring. "Can we get some water, or something?"

Libby, Gabriella, and Bernard hurried over with their canteens, handing them right over to Michael, who tried to funnel some water into the conman's mouth. He still didn't come to.

Michael looked at Libby. "What's wrong with him?"

"Fever, an infection, he's dehydrated…" Libby listed off.

"We got to keep moving," Ana-Lucia replied from the back of the group.

Jane clenched her jaw, then turned her head slowly- Ana-Lucia's gun was at her hip- easy enough to get to. She had known the woman far less than the boys had, but she couldn't stand her already, and that comment had drawn the line. She made a quick plan in her head, then brought her leg out hard and kicked Ana-Lucia's legs right out from under her.

"Jane!" Gabriella shrieked.

The shorter woman barely had time to register than Jane had kicked her before Jane was on top of her, struggling for a few seconds. Jane managed to get the gun out of Ana-Lucia's waistband and kicked it away a couple of feet. She dove away from Ana-Lucia, just in time to miss a kick aimed at her face from the other woman. Jane rolled towards the gun and grabbed it, getting right back on her feet and pointing the gun squarely at Ana-Lucia.

Gabriella and the others just gawked, with the exception of Eko, who was sizing her up, wondering if she would be so bold as to pull the trigger. Michael and Jin stepped in between Jane and Sawyer, backing her up.

"Jane…" Gabriella breathed. "What're you doing?"

"Getting a goddamn point across. My friend is just short of dying right now, and you want to move on? No. Let us take care of him, then we can go."

"Bullshit," Ana-Lucia growled.

"I'm sorry, didn't you just say whoever had the gun has the power? Well, look who has the gun now?" She raised it up slightly. "Give us a few minutes, then we'll behave like the little soldiers you want us to be. You wanna go, go. We're not moving."

"Us either." Bernard put in, and Libby nodded in agreement.

"Fine, but remember what they did to us? Remember Goodwin?" Ana-Lucia demanded of the others.

Her group looked around, but said nothing.

"Maybe Ana's right, maybe we should just push on…" the brunette pointed out.

Michael looked up. "Hey, you know what? I don't remember Goodwin, and I'm really sorry about whatever happened to him, but I don't care. Mr. Eko, can you help me make a stretcher?"

Eko hesitated, then nodded before walking off to get supplies.

Michael looked over his shoulder. "Bernard, Gabriella? I need four sticks- sturdy ones, about five feet long."

"Yeah, got it." The two hurried off to do his task.

"_You're_ gonna carry him." Ana-Lucia pointed out.

"Hey, _Bitch_, shut the Hell up and help one of your friends. We'll deal with our friend, you get the Hell off our backs so we can help him." Jane growled.

Ana-Lucia glared at her, but crossed her arms and headed off after Eko all the same.

Jane looked back at Sawyer, taking hold of his hand. "Hang in there, Sawy. We're gonna help you out. We're gonna get you home."

After a few minutes, the group had gotten the supplies needed, and after about an hour, they had constructed a stretcher. Michael and Jin eased Sawyer onto it, and in no time, they were on their way again. The glaring match that Ana-Lucia and Jane were in the middle of made the trek seem even longer. Just when things seemed like they couldn't get more difficult, the path stopped, and went up into a cliff face. They all stared at it for a while until they managed to work out a way to get Sawyer up, passing him from person to person. It ended up being one Hell of a team effort, but they made it work, and were on their way once more. That was, until Ana-Lucia noticed they were one person down.

"Cindy…? Cindy! Where's Cindy?" She looked over the cliff, continuing to call her friend's name.

"Did they take her?" Libby asked.

"How could she just be gone?" Michael asked.

Ana-Lucia moved closer to the edge of the cliff. "I'm going after her."

Eko grabbed her arm. "No. We stay together. If we split up, we give them what they want."

Ana-Lucia pried her arm out of his grip. "This is all your fault. We never should have gone through the jungle. You risked our lives to save _him_! He's already dead!"

Michael and Jane both stopped looking over Sawyer and glanced at each other, trying not to explode on her once again. The anger quickly faded when they heard odd whispering around them.

Ana-Lucia growled before closing the distance between her and Jane and getting her gun back. She pointed it towards the jungle, in the direction of the whispers.

"Oh God!" Libby breathed.

"RUN!" Ana-Lucia barked, and everyone knew better than to disobey. They ran for minutes straight, not even stopping when another sudden rainstorm started up. They waited until the whispers stopped completely to slow down, and just when that happened, they heard heavy footsteps getting closer to them. Without a thought, Ana-Lucia shot in the direction of the footsteps, then tore in that direction when they heard something hit the ground.

The others chased after her until they reached where she was standing, gun down, staring at something. Jin, Michael, and Jane just froze and looked further into the clearing, and then two shapes came into view. Confusion faded to horror quickly as they made out the shapes as people, and not just any people.

Sayid was kneeling in the clearing, holding Shannon, who was bleeding from a small wound in her stomach- a wound that would've matched a gunshot wound.


	5. The Way Back

_Jane looked up at her new locker in the LAPD locker room. The last few days had been a blur. She had reluctantly left Kevin's side, and then within a couple of days, they had set her up with a new partner already- some Mike character. He had lost his partner around the same time she had, so he was just about as open to the new arrangement as she was. Well, that was a lie. She bothered to try and get to know Mike, a.k.a the chunky blonde guy with the Magnum P.I mustache. Mike, on the other hand, hated her automatically and rushed so she could barely keep up. What was going on in the lockerroom at that moment was no different. He was practically slamming his things into his locker a couple of rows down. When he turned to leave, Jane tried to figure out what she was going to say. She took the 'A. Cortez' name plate out of the slide on the top and slid in the 'J. Payton' one she had been given and ran after him. "Hey, Mike, slow down!" She hurried after him._

_"Make me," the man countered, still walking._

_Jane scoffed, then picked up her pace until she had caught up. She stepped in front of him and turned with calculated footwork, and jabbed her pointer finger into his chest. "Stop walking and listen, Pal!"_

_Mike looked down at her finger, then glared back up at her._

_Jane continued. "Look. I lost my partner, you lost yours. We both miss them terribly, and neither of us think there's much of a chance that we're gonna see them any time soon. So you know what? Come to terms with the fact that you and I are stuck with each other for God knows how long, and deal with it like a man instead of a whiney little runt. It'll be good for you and I if you can accept that. I'm not saying that we should be best friends- Kevin- my partner is my best friend, and he's in a coma in a hospital bed right now. No one can replace him, and I'm sure no one can replace your partner. I know that. " She sighed. "Look, I just want this to work out becauseif it doesn't, we might lose our jobs, or get knocked down a few pegs… and I don't want that, because that just makes the chances of Kevin being my partner again… just get worse. I can't do that to Kev after… after all he's done for me."_

_Mike's glare softened and he looked like he remembered something, or two facts just connected in his head. He looked down._

_Jane tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ears. "Look, as sappy as this sounds, you're partner's always gonna with you, whether it's in your head, or in your heart, or wherever. Thing is, right now, they're in the past… and you and I are partners in the present… I wanna make that work, whether you like it or not. Just… give me a chance." She looked down at his partner's name plate, and held it out to him. "Here, I figured you might want this."_

_Mike took it hesitantly, then stared down at it._

_Jane squared her shoulders, then turned to leave. "See you tomorrow…" She made it to the door and opened it._

_"Hey, Payton!" Mike called._

_Jane turned back to him._

_Mike hesitated again. "I'm sorry. About… acting like this… and about your partner. Kevin Callis, right?"_

_Jane nodded._

_Mike nodded back. "It'll… it'll take a bit, I'm not gonna lie."_

_"I expect it to. I just didn't need the hate right away."_

_Mike inhaled sharply, then licked his lips. "Right… Again, I'm sorry… and I'll see you tomorrow."_

_Jane kept eye contact with him a few more seconds before continuing out the door._

* * *

><p>When time stopped moving slow for everyone, Jane's instincts kicked in. She all but ripped the gun out of Ana-Lucia's hands. The other woman spared a quick glance at her before turning her attention back to Sayid.<p>

Their man kept glaring down the now-unarmed woman before setting Shannon's body down and jumping up, drawing his own gun.

"Sayid!" Michael and Jane warned.

Sayid kept walking, getting better aim on Ana-Lucia.

Michael and Jane kept calling his name, then gawked when Eko lunged at Sayid and wrestled him to the floor. "Jane, do something!" Michael demanded, motioning back and forth between her and the fight.

"What do you want me to do? I can't shoot without hurting Sayid, and if I get involved in that-" She motioned towards the fight. She was late to notice Eko's leg accidentally go behind her foot. The next thing she knew, she had been knocked right off her feet. She lost her grip on the gun as she she hit the ground hard and the back of her head connected with a large root sticking out of the ground. "OW!"

"Jane!" Michael and Gabriel called, looking back and forth between both predicaments. Michael settled for helping Jane up, figuring it was the safer option. "Damn. You okay?"

Jane flinched, but took his hand and let him pull her up. She rubbed the back of her head. "I'm fine. Where the Hell is the…?" She turned to see Bernard holding the gun; not pointing it at anyone, but more to keep it away from anyone who would use it to cause further harm. She turned back around when she heard a resounding 'crack.' Sayid dropped, unconscious at her feet. She looked at Ana-Lucia, who was holding another gun like she had just pistol whipped him. She snarled at the other police officer before kneeling beside her fallen friend. "Sayid?" She shook his shoulder. "Sayid!" She stopped and closed her eyes when she heard the familiar cocking of a gun. She didn't need to turn to know what Ana-Lucia's next move was.

"Nobody move! Don't move!" The woman ordered.

Jane slowly glared up at her and exhaled sharply, more so when Ana-Lucia told Eko to search him. She just didn't expect Eko would protest, which he did.

"He just had a gun on you, check to see if he has anything else on him." Ana-Lucia repeated.

"Don't you touch him." Jane snarled.

Michael stepped forward. "Put the gun down."

Ana-Lucia pointed the object at him. "Stop,"

"Don't you point that-"

"I said stop!" Ana-Lucia barked.

"What's your problem?" Michael demanded, only to duck when Ana-Lucia fired off a warning sho.

Jane also cringed, then looked at Bernard, who looked from Ana-Lucia, stunned, back to her, with a look that made her wonder if he was contemplating giving her the gun back.

"Back, all of you!" Ana-Lucia repeated.

"Are you crazy?" Michael insisted.

Ana-Lucia glared at him, then looked at Sayid. "Tie him up," She looked at Eko.

"I'm not tying him up." Eko replied.

Jane frowned and scooted closer to Sayid. She didn't like the situation.

"He just tried to kill you." Ana-Lucia pointed out.

"No," Eko stated simply. He started to walk away.

Ana-Lucia paused, then pointed her gun at Libby. "You do it." She pointed the gun at Sayid, then back. "Tie him. Use the vines from the stretcher."

"Sawyer needs all the support. We can't carry him without them." Jane protested, but anything further died in her throat when Ana-Lucia pointed the gun squarely at her forehead, and it was barely two inches away from her skin.

Michael let out a gasp of alarm, then when he realized that no bullet was following, at least at that moment, he stepped forward. "Look, she's right."

Ana-Lucia moved the gun from Jane to Michael now. "Shut up. "

Libby put her hands up. "Ana, Sawyer needs a doctor, or he'll die."

"I know what I'm doing." Ana-Lucia replied. "Now get to the damn stretcher."

Jane rose to her feet slowly, and when Ana-Lucia looked at her, she put her hands up. "I'm going over to the stretcher. He's barely conscious, let alone coherent, so I want to be there when you take the damn thing apart."

Ana-Lucia glared, then nodded.

Libby and Jane looked at each other before going over to Sawyer in the stretcher. Jane knelt beside him. "Sawyer, you awake?"

Sawyer let out a weak groan. "C'per?"

Jane cupped his cheeks. "Yeah, it's me. Look, we're gonna have to move you for a bit, okay? The Bitch needs the vines on the stretcher."

Sawyer groaned again before his head drooped to the side, against her knee.

Jane sighed and scooted around so she could hold up his upper body. She looked at Libby, who mouhed 'let's go.' She lifted Sawyer's upper body slightly, and Libby pushed the stretcher out from under him. They moved again, and Jane moved his legs so Libby could get the rest of the stretcher out from under him completely. They succeeded, and Libby went to work on untying some of the vines.

Jane pushed Sawyer's bangs away from his face. "Can we get him some water?"

Libby smiled weakly. "Of course," She turned, only to see Bernard was coming over with the requested object.

Bernard offered a weak smile of his own to the women, then handed the canteen over to Jane. "Here,"

Jane took it. "Thanks." She paused when Bernard looked around before holding the gun out to her, keeping it low to the ground.

"I think it's safer for all of us if you take this back." He whispered.

Jane nodded again, slipping it in the back of her jeans. She tugged her tank top down over it. She resumed the original task of giving Sawyer water, frowning when he let out a moan of pain. "We're almost home, Sawy. Jack'll get you fixed up… even if you probably won't like him doing it much…"

Libby rested her hand on Jane's shoulder when she got up. "Let me talk to Ana and give her the vines. Keep him company."

"Always do," Jane replied, then glanced up at Michael as the man approached.

"How's he doing?" Michael asked.

"Still totally out of it." Jane replied. "Not much change."

Michael nodded. "So what do we do now?"

"What we do best- wait."

And they did, watching and feeling helpless once again as Libby tied up Sayid against a tree. It was quier for a while and they just sat by, waiting for Ana-Lucia's next orders, until a newly-awake Sawyer screamed for Ana-Lucia to untie him at the same time that Eko hoisted Sawyer onto his shoulders.

Jane shot upright, shrugging off the sudden dizziness that came with the action. "Hey! What the Hell are you doing with him?"

"Taking him back to your camp." Eko replied.

Ana-Lucia shoved her way over to him. "Don't leave, please. If he was you, he'd let you die."

"I'm not doing it for him." Eko replied. "I'm doing it for me."

Jane looked at Michael, who pointed at Eko and mouthed 'go with him.' She nodded and bolted over to the man. "Hold on! I'm coming with you!"

"No you're not!" Ana-Lucia replied.

"Bite me, Bitch. A, that's my sick friend he's carrying off, B, if these 'Others' are really all over, two aware people are better than one." Jane shot back. She looked at Eko, who merely looked down, then back up- his way of giving permission.

Gabriella stepped forward. "Me too. I'm not letting my sister leave my sight now."

Ana-Lucia glared at all three of them, then turned her attention back to her gun and started toying with it.

Jane motioned in the direction of the beach, letting Eko and Gabriella go ahead. With one final glance at Michael, Jin and Sayid, she headed after him.

* * *

><p>"You are very brave…"<p>

Jane looked at Eko after his comment that broke the silence that had lasted minutes. "Hm?"

"To stand up to Ana-Lucia like that. You are very brave." He replied.

Jane chuckled. "Comes with the territory of being a cop- proving women who think they're bigger and tougher than everyone around them wrong and not letting them boss you around."

Gabriella let out a weak laugh. "I wish the rest of us had that mindset with her."

"Well, I had to do something when I saw that look in her eye… I've seen it way too many times on the creeps that go postal…" Jane replied.

"Thank you for that, really." Gabriella nodded.

Jane offered a smile. "Yeah, no problem." She replied, turning to her sister. She barely had time to see that Gabriella's expression turned from one of pride to shock before she turned back to the path,. She knocked right into Eko, who had stopped dead in his tracks. "Ow, what the…" She peaked around the man, only to see Jack and Kate gawking at Eko.

It took Jack a moment to realize it was Jane who had just appeared from behind him, focusing more on Eko's appearance, the fact that Sawyer was practically just draped over his shoulders, and the other blonde stranger. "Jane? Where have you… Who are these people?"

Jane bolted in front of Eko, hearing him start to snarl. "Whoa, hold on. They're not one of… Them. They're one of us, okay? This is the doctor." She pointed at Jack.

"Jane… what… is going on?" Jack repeated. "Who are these people? What happened to Sawyer? Are you okay? Did they do this?"

"They're other survivors from our plane, Jack- they're the survivors from the tail section." Jane replied. "As far as Sawyer goes… it's a long story. We just need to get him help, Jack, please, take him to the hatch and help him, we'll tell you everything later. You can trust these people. I promise. Just help Sawyer first."

Jack stared, then nodded slowly. "…Sure. Follow me, then."

Jane sighed and stepped forward, but the dizziness came back suddenly. The effects of her earlier fall came fast, and before she knew it, the ground was coming at her fast. She could just make out Jack calling her name before her world went black again.

* * *

><p>Jane slowly woke from her state within an hour. The place she was in barely had light, and it felt totally dingy. She took in the area she was in, figuring it was some military-like bunk.<p>

"Hey, she's awake."

"Good,"

Jane looked to the side, seeing Jack and Gabriella looking at her. "…The Hell happened?"

Jack smiled. "You passed out. I'm pretty sure you have a concussion. You need to take it easy. Your… your sister explained that you went down and hit your head when the big guy tripped you during his and Sayid's fight. I'm putting you on bedrest, Miss. Accident Prone- same as Sawyer."

Jane tried to sit up, but Jack put his arm out to stop her. "No,"

"Jack... Sawyer, how is he?" Jane asked.

Jack pointed down, indicating the other bunk in the cutout. "It's bad, but he'll be fine. We're working on the fever. It's nothing I haven't seen before." He assured her. "And Gabby here also filled me in on everything that happened before this- as in her and her group being in the tail section and all that, so don't worry about that, either. " Jane opened her mouth to continue, but Jack cut her off. "Jane, really, take it easy. Everything's gonna be fine."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Jack, I'm fine, I…" She moved to get up again, then stopped, feeling something she hadn't before. She grumbled and moved so the sheet covering her moved a bit. She frowned down at the torn up strips of sheets that were acting as restraints. "…Really, Jack? Really?"

Jack shrugged. "I knew you wouldn't listen about taking it easy, so I backed up my own solution."

"By restraining me?"

"To be fair, I said it was a good idea." Gabriella insisted.

"That's how I figured out she was being honest about being your sister- she knew how you think." Jack replied.

"How nice for you two. Get me the Hell outta this now." Jane insisted.

Jack laughed. "Soon, Jane. This bed rest just a precaution-"

"Forced bed rest." Jane corrected.

"It's still to be safe." Jack countered. "Now, just relax… you should be fine if you go to sleep, but… just… try not to for now. Just take it easy, like I said."

"You're a jerk, Shephard."

"That's not a nice thing to say to the guy making sure you and your friend are taken care of."

"I hate you so much right now."

"No you don't."

"Whatever,"


	6. Numb

After three attempts, Jane had managed to undo most of her bonds. It had only been hours and she felt she had done enough bed rest for her injury. She had taken worse and gone on less recovery time. She scooted upright, then out of the last of the bonds. She swung her legs up and let herself drop the small gap from her bunk to the ground. "Right. Now how the Hell do I get out of here?" She had to admit, now the plan seemed dumb since it wasn't thought out. She heard Sawyer let out a groan behind her. She turned. "Sorry, bud." She turned back around, ready to find an exit. What she didn't count on, however, was seeing Jack leaning on the entryway into the room, watching her with a raised eyebrow.

Jack waited a beat before he straightened out. "So… you done playing a rebel?"

Jane shrugged. "Just 'cause I'm a cop, it doesn't mean I'm always a good girl?"

Jack laughed. "And how many guys have you used that on who heard it, said 'I'm gay' and left you?"

"Jerk," Jane countered, then sighed and walked over to him. "Come on, Jacko. I've had worse than this, you know that. Hell, with Ethan-"

"With Ethan you were running two hundred percent on adrenaline. The fight… maybe sixty percent adrenaline, knowing you."

"Right, so when you do the math, I'll be finding my way out of here." She tried to passed him, then let out a yelp of alarm when he turned around, worked one arm around her waist, then picked her up completely and started to carry her back towards her bunk. She let out a growl and started squirming to get down, despite worrying about getting dropped since he was one tall son of a bitch. "Lemme go! I can walk fine!"

"No, because if you did, you'd probably kick me where it counts and run anyway." Jack shot back. When one of Jane's legs got free of his arm, he let it drop, then got a better hold on the other.

Jane, in turn, did a vicegrip around his neck to try to cut off some of his air and give him more reason to drop her. The attempt failed, and the two continued trying to one-up each other. It would have been quite a sight for someone who had no idea what was going on to come in to see. Naturally, someone did come in at that moment- Kate.

The brunette crossed her arms and just watched the struggle of the two unaware people for a couple of moments. "... Am I interrupting something?"

The other two froze, looked over at her, then looked back at each other. Jane started to slide the rest of the way down Jack's side, and Jack put her down the rest of the way, nudging her towards the bunks. He arched an eyebrow at Kate. "No, you're not interrupting. What's up?"

"I uh... I was wondering if you, uh, were gonna go to Shannon's funeral."

Jane sighed and looked down, kicking at the ground lightly, remembering the girl's fate. She turned back to the bunks, then hoisted herself up and into hers. She let her legs dangle off the side until Jack glared her down and she lay down.

Jack shrugged, turning his attention back to Kate. "I thought I'd stay here with Sawyer and Jane, make sure they're okay... and don't try to escape."

Kate smiled, but it faded quick. "How's Sawyer? And, Jane, you too, of course?"

Jane shrugged. "I just want out because I feel fine. Sawyer, on the other hand..." She turned over and peeked over the side of the bed to take in Sawyer, who looked even worse than he had minutes before.

Kate glanced down at her hands, then looked up. "You should go to... Shannon's funeral... I'll stay here with them."

Jack stared at her for a while, then nodded. "Fine, yeah. Uh, there's fruit over there. Try to get Sawyer to eat it... and make sure Jane doesn't try to escape again."

Jane clicked her tongue and winked.

Jack got up, and glanced around once more. He looked back at Kate, catching that she looked upset. "You okay?"

Kate looked at him, blinked a couple of times, then laughed. "Yeah, I'm fine... just... tired."

Jack studied her for another couple of moments, then nodded and left.

Kate sighed, then pulled up one of the stools and sat down.

A few seconds of silence passed, broken only by Sawyer's heavy breathing. Jane rolled onto her stomach again and stared down at Kate. "...So, is it your time of the month, or is something eating at you?"

Kate looked up at her, not expecting the question. "What?"

"I haven't seen someone look that intense since the last time I saw a robbery suspect in Interrogation." Jane replied.

Kate laughed again. "I uh..." She looked down at her hands once more, searching for words. "I'm just... remembering something from back home."

Jane raised her head. "Ah," She yawned a moment later. "Wow, there we go. Anyway, Jack drugged me up before my first escape attempt, so I'm gonna listen to the drugs in my head and pass out for a while. Shake me if you need anything."

"You got it." Kate replied.

Jane settled back down and closed her eyes, and within minutes, she had fallen asleep. However, that sleep only lasted minutes. She bolted upright upon hearing Kate scream, nearly hitting her head on the ceiling as she did so. "Not this time, Luck." She looked over at Kate, seeing the other woman wide-eyed on the other side of the room. "...Kate? What's wrong?" She looked down, registering that Sawyer was facedown on the floor. "What happened?"

Kate opened her mouth, then shut it before turning and running off.

"Kate!" Jane called after her. She groaned, swung herself off the bunk, calculating her landing so she would just miss Sawyer. She dragged her friend back into his bunk before running after Kate. The two women made it out of the hatch, and they ran a fair distance into the jungle before Kate finally stopped. Jane skidded to a halt and had to jump over a log in order to come to a complete stop. "Kate..." She panted. "What was that about?"

"You didn't hear him?" Kate asked.

"Hear who say what?" Jane replied.

"Sawyer... say 'Why'd you kill me'?" Kate answered.

Jane shook her head, then frowned when Kate's shoulders sunk. "Kate... talk to me. What's eating at you?"

Kate sat down, hugging her knees to her chest. "There's something you should know about me..."

"I already know you're a criminal." Jane shrugged.

"No... not just... not just that. I mean why-"

"Jack said it was murder." Jane deadpanned.

"It wasn't just that... there's... so much. My father... he was... an abusive bastard. He deserved what he got... but the robberies... the fraud..." She sniffled. "Six months before this whole thing, I was married. My name was Monica. Monica Callis, I was happy... and I blew that. I was happy... I was happy living a lie." She looked up at Jane for support, but only saw Jane staring at her blankly.

Truth be told, Jane had just about shut down after two particular words in that sentence. "Monica... Monica Callis... like, Kevin Callis...?" She asked slowly, though she knew the answer. She could just about feel her world caving in.

Kate's look of helplessness dropped. "How'd you know...?" Recognition dawned on her face. "Oh... oh my God... I thought... you're..."

Jane was just about shaking with anger she was struggling as hard as possible to control. "...Yeah. I'm Jane. Jane Payton... his partner."

Kate frowned and stood up. "Jane, listen, I'm so, so sorry. If you knew... if I- AH!" Kate let out a gasp when Jane's fist connected hard with her face. She shrunk back, looking back at the woman.

Jane recollected herself, then inhaled sharply. "No. Don't you dare apologize. Don't walk over to me right now, don't talk to me, so help you God, do not even look at me right now... or ever again, for that matter... you might as well have just admitted to ruining my life, because what you did to Kevin... what... happened, afterwards... it did." Jane snarled. "... ... Why am I even wasting my breath on you? You... don't... deserve it." She clenched, then unclenched her fists, then backed up before tearing into the jungle again. Hell, she had been worried about Kate's safety back when she ran off, almost alone. Now she didn't even care if the woman got attacked. Her world kept caving in as she ran. Pieces fit together, and she wondered how she hadn't seen the obvious earlier on. She lost track of time as she kept running, and barely stopped. By the time she made it a half a mile away from where she had left Kate, she was practically numb, and the rain that had started up wasn't helping. Her lungs were burning, and she finally listened to her body enough to sit down on a rock ledge that was covered by another ledge. She folded up, just as Kate had moments before, and started to rock subconciously. The woman who had nearly killed her best friend had been on the island with her for days- Hell, months now, and she had been civil- she hadn't even gotten the warning vibe she got with most people with something like that to hide. Her throat burned just as much as her lungs had, and within seconds, she was sobbing. She had thought it had all come out when she saw Gabriella alive and well, but clearly, there was more to come. She had no idea how long she sat there, getting soaked through, but her trance was broken when she heard Jack calling for her from a few feet away.

"Ja...? Christ, Jane! What the Hell are you doing out here, alone, and in the state you're in?"

Jane didn't bother looking up at him. "How'd you find me, Jack?"

"Wha... Kate... found me and told me... didn't expect you'd be this far out, though."

Jane flinched at Kate's name. "Don't... don't even say her name in front of me. Not anymore..."

Jack hesitated, then knelt next to her, rubbing her arms to try and warm her up and get excess water off of her. "What's that supposed to mean? K... She was pretty shaken up... did you guys fight... is that why the hatch was a mess?"

Jane shook her head.

Jack leaned forward. "What... happened?"

"She's the reason... she's the reason my best friend nearly died... she's part of the reason why I ended up here... she..." Jane couldn't find any more words.

Jack pulled her against him. "Hey, relax. I'm here. Did you just say she's the reason your best friend nearly died...?"

Jane's stomach flipped and she lurched forward, waiting to vomit. When nothing came up, she leaned back. "She drugged him, Jack. She drugged him to get away from... everything, and he... he had a reaction... he almost died... he's in a coma, Jack. He's in a coma, and if you really think about it... it's her fault, and... and she's been under my nose, all this time."

Jack frowned, then tucked her head under his chin, slowly but surely getting the story. So it wasn't just murder Kate had to hide. "... How could you have known?"

"I'm a cop, Jack. We can sense stuff like that." Jane replied.

"You've had a lot more to worry about than that." Jack offered.

Jane sighed, then hiccuped, trying to stop the tears that still hadn't stopped. She felt Jack's arm go around her shoulders, and she pressed closer to him, even if there wasn't much space between them. "Why'd you go to find me?"

"Live together, die alone, remember?" Jack asked. "You know, the first couple of times you looked for Toni, I wouldn't let you go out here alone. I wanted to keep it that way, so here I am. Now let's get you out of this rain." He laughed weakly. "Why do I always have to come in and save you, huh?"

Jane looked at him. "What makes you think I need saving?"

Jack nudged her cheek where residue from a tear or raindrop, he couldn't tell, was. "Well, this… and basically everything you've done since I met you... sounds like you needed me to this time, anyway."

Jane took a deep breath. "...Yeah. I did."

Jack pressed his lips to her forehead, then stroked her hair, letting silence pass. "... Are you ready to go back, or do you want a few more minutes?"

"Few more minutes... ... is Sawyer okay? We... I just left him."

"He's fine... well, as fine as he could get at the moment." Jack replied.

Jane nodded, then sighed and stood up slowly. "Forget it. Let's go back. Just...just keep me away from.. her."

Jack nodded. "I'll move what I have for you back to your tent. Are you gonna rest if I do?"

Jane sighed. "... I don't feel like doing much else other than resting now..."

Jack smiled weakly and got up, offering his hand, which she took to get up. They made it back to camp in silence, then parted ways when Jane reached her tent. She collapsed on her mat and turned around, wishing to will the world away. It worked for a few moments, but once again, her peace was interrupted- this time by a more welcome interruption, and what she felt she needed at that moment.

Rose had poked her head into the tent. "Hey, Sweetie. How you feelin'?"

"Rose, hi!" Jane sat up and smiled, then it got wider when she saw Bernard also leaning down and looking inside. "Hello to you, too." She looked from them. "You guys must be so happy to be together again."

"Beyond happy," Bernard nodded, coming in and taking Rose's hand.

Jane beamed, and felt a small portion of her misery lift from seeing that, alone. "I'm glad,"

"Thank you, baby." Rose replied, then patted her hand. "Listen, we've moved over to the other side of camp. You continue to come by any time you like."

"Will do," Jane nodded.

Rose smiled, and the two older adults left.

Jane sat back again, then looked over when she saw Jack on his way over. "Hey,"

Jack nodded. "Hey. I have some good news for you."

"Which is?"

"Sawyer's up and he's asking for you. Wanna swing by?"

Jane arched an eyebrow. "Will Kate be there?"

Jack shook his head. "I asked her to be out in ten, by the time we'd be there. She didn't argue."

Jane nodded, then got up. "Now who's preventing my bed rest, huh?" She offered a smile.

Jack smiled back. "Good, you're almost back, now. I figured I could make an exception since it'll help both of you. Let's go."

* * *

><p>"There's Copper!"<p>

Jane's smile grew when she saw Sawyer sitting up when they reached the bunks in the hatch. "Hey, there's The Redneck!"

Sawyer playfully glared at her. "So, I heard you played guardian angel up 'til you passed out and were Patient Numero Dos."

Jane shrugged. "It's m' job."

Sawyer chuckled weakly, then looked at Jack. "What do ya say, Doc? Can I take a walk, see if I can take it?"

Jack hesitated. "I uh... you were out cold most of the day, Sawyer."

"And I'm fine now, aren't I?" Sawyer asked. Jack went to protest again, but Sawyer glared. "Come on, Doc. You're letting Copper out to play, let me out. If I go down, I'm minutes away from here again." He patted the side of the bunk.

Jack looked at Jane, who shrugged. "I'll keep an eye on him, and like he and you said, we're both still in recovery."

Jack sighed. "Alright, fine, but if one of you go down, possibly for the count, it's on you, not me."

"Yeah, Doc! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Sawyer cheered, then moved his arm. "Hey, Copper. Play guide dog."

"I hate you," Jane replied, going to help him up all the same.

Sawyer tossed his arm around her, then pressed a weak, almost sloppy kiss on her cheek. "No you don't."

Jack and Jane both rolled their eyes. The doctor moved aside so the cop could lead the convict out of the room, then out of the hatch and onto the beach. Jane started off guiding him towards her tent, surprised when he kept up with her fairly well. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Kate talking with a few survivors a few feet away, and made an abrupt detour. She prayed Sawyer hadn't caught on, but he did.

"Whoa, you and Xena the Second not seeing eye to eye anymore? What'd I miss?" He asked.

"...A lot, Sawyer. A lot... and that's the only answer you're getting."


	7. Voice in the Wind

Jane lifted her head and sighed when someone blocked her light as she continued to read her mystery book. She had forgotten she had the thing, and figured then was the best time to read it. It got her away from the events of the last few hours. It was the fourth time in three hours it had happened. "Go away, Jack. You pestering me about Kate isn't gonna make me get over it any faster."

"And I ain't the Doc, Little Miss. Cry Me a River."

Jane groaned. "Sawyer, come on. Leave me alone."

"Nah,"

Jane turned and set him a disapproving look. "What do you want?"

"You're mopey. You're _weird_ mopey. I don't like it."

"Well, how would you be feeling if you found out that you've been buddy-buddy with the person responsible for being the reason your best friend is half dead back home, hm?"

"_That's_ what this whole you versus Kate thing is about? No wonder the Doc's been going crazy 'bout keepin' you two separated."

"Yeah…" Jane nodded, then frowned. "Did you cut your hair…?"

"Uh, Kate did. Don't kill me."

"Whatever, Sawyer…" Jane looked back at her book.

Sawyer coughed, letting a silence pass, then smirked, finding the solution. He went over to his bag, dug something out, and went back to her. "You know what you need?"

"To be left alone?" Jane countered. "I'm not in a very social mood."

"Too bad. Let's go."

Jane let out a yelp when he yanked her upright. "Holy sh… don't do that, you'll pull something and you'll open up your wound again!"

"It's worth it," Sawyer replied, holding up the small bottle of whiskey he had come across. "Now, let's go get you drunk."

"How's about no?"

"How's about your opinion don't matter right now? You ever play 'I Never'?"

" I Never what?"

"… Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding. Intro to I Never version two, starting right now."

"This isn't going to end well is it?"

"It'll be fine… and if we both end up drunk outta our minds since I'm sure we don't have much in common, which leads to us makin' out, so be it."

"Fantastic…"

"You betcha."

"Jack's gonna kill us, you know that, right?"

"Awww, all you have to do is look adorable, he'll go weak in the knees and we're outa trouble."

"You're an idiot."

"But you love me."

"No, not really, no."

* * *

><p>About an hour later, Sawyer smirked. "I've never fantasized about the person sittin' across from me."<p>

"Oh, you are such a liar. You so have. I haven't, thanks very much. Now, enough with the sex questions. You got that I lost it in my sophomore year in college after like, twenty questions just choosing different school years. That should be enough, shouldn't it?"

"With you? Never. Now go. I'm proud of myself that I got you to tolerate this enough 'til I got you tipsy. Let's see how much more I can make you go."

"Not too much father, Hick Boy. I stop drinking when I feel like this. I know my limits. Now… hm… I never… I never… HA! I never helped out someone without the intention of doing so."

"Say what?"

"Screw you, I'm trying not to use double negatives because my brain is going with the alchohol, but… ah, screw it. I never not purposely helped someone… ah, shit, I like the first one better, nevermind…"

Sawyer laughed, then raised his eyebrows. "Alright, fine, I gotcha…" He took a swig.

Jane grinned. "I knew it."

"Shut up. Turns out the guy was a police informant who was asking me for a favor just to see the… goods I was… were… carrying for someone. Go figure, I do somethin' nice and I get thrown in jail for it."

"Aw, poor baby."

"Whatever, Sweetheart. Hm. I've never crushed on the Doc-"

"You said that already."

"I did? Huh. I never… had a drunken one night stand that I didn't at least stay for breakfast the next morning."

"I take you weaseled it outta the poor girl?"

"I was hungry, what can I say?" Sawyer asked, then arched an eyebrow.

Jane stared, then scowled. "Fine…" She took a swig.

Sawyer's jaw dropped. "No!"

"He was hot, I was about three times as drunk as this, and Kevin woke me up 'cause there was some murder that morning and needed me for a-"

"Was Kevin your boyfriend?"

"No, Kevin's my friend- you know, the one who's… still in the hospital, because of Kate." Jane's smile faded fast, as did Sawyer's.

After a minute or two of silence, Sawyer cleared his throat. "So…"

"What… are you two… doing?"

Sawyer sighed. "Doc's in. Hey, Jack Off."

Jack scowled, then grabbed the bottle that was just about empty. "Are you kidding me? Sawyer, you I expected this from, but Jane...? Why? I thought you would be smart enough to avoid the risks. "

"I needed it today, Jack."

"You know, the answer to your worries is never in the bottom of a bottle."

"I'm not drinking my troubles away, Doc."

"I wasn't talking to you." Jack snapped.

Jane rolled his eyes. "Jack, come on. We've been over this. I'm a big girl-"

"Who's been heavily medicated lately- that goes for you too, Sawyer-"

"Oh, now it does." Sawyer raised his eyebrows.

Jack glared, then shook his head and stormed off.

Jane groaned. "Jack, come on! We're okay. It's not like we were far from camp or anything." She got up and headed after him.

Sawyer let out a groan of his own and shook his head. He looked up at the sky. "How come you hate me? I finally find a girl who could do me some good, I get her alone, and you send the Knight in Shining Armor over? Can't you help the Rusty Suit for once?"

He flinched, when the cloud above the area that hadn't look threatening at all opened up, and rain started to fall. It seemed like the rain only covered a four foot by four foot circle around him, as well. "Yeah, that's what I thought…"

* * *

><p>Jane followed Jack into the jungle. "Jack, come on. Stop playing Dad. I was fine, and it's been a couple of days since you drugged me up, and-" She stumbled on a vine along the floor, and Jack half-heartedly turned and steadied her.<p>

"Doesn't mean anything. With the… different conditions, and diet, and access to water, it could still be in your system. Alcohol and meds do not mix- for you or Sawyer."

"I'm tough."

"I know, and I know you know, so is it the alcohol talking, or are you just being difficult?"

"Why do you care, Jack?" Jane countered.

Jack grunted and tossed his head back, putting his hands on his hips. "I can't do this right now…"

"Why?"

Jack scoffed and looked back at her. "Jane, listen to me. I care about you. You're one of the few I know I can trust, and I know you'll have my back… probably the most out of everyone. I need you with me as much as possible, and if you go… getting drunk, with all this, with Sawyer, no less, it's gonna be tough working with you."

"Whatever, Dad."

Jack shook his head, then dragged her behind the widest tree in the area, feeling like the jungle still wasn't private enough. "Great, you drunk equals sober Sawyer. Just grea…" He froze mid sentence and looked to the right.

"Go on…" Jane countered.

"Shhhh!" Jack hissed.

Something in his eyes convinced her to quiet down. She did, and what she heard sobered her immediately.

"Jane! Jaaaaaaaane!"

Jane swallowed hard. "That sounded like…"

"Toni…" Jack finished.

"So… it wasn't just me, then?"

Jack shook his head, then when they heard Toni call for her again, he scanned the area. No visible trace of the girl. He looked at her, then tilted his chin at the lowest incline up to the next section of the jungle. He nudged the small of her back. "Go,"

Jane took off up the hill, and Jack was hot at her heels. They continued hearing Toni-Anne's voice until they reached a clearing and it suddenly died off. Jane and Jack looked around, stepping closer to each other. It suddenly seemed too planned, but this time, they were willing to take chances. "Toni!" They both called in the respective direction they were facing. It seemed too quiet afterwards. After a few minutes of searching the area and coming up empty handed, Jack stopped and sighed. "Jane, just… maybe it was the wind and… by some chance we heard the same thing… it's not the first time it's happened here."

"I can't. It's my sister, and that was just the first hint we've had of her in days- weeks, goddamn it, I don't even know!"

Jack frowned. "Jane, I…"

"Don't even start. Do you have any idea how worse this has gotten in the last few days? Since we found Gabby and the others? Sure, I'm happy she's alive, but… I had to look her in the eye and tell her that I lost our baby sister- I failed at the job I had to take over for her, and that's also partially a lie. Do you kow how horrible of a feeling that is?"

Jack frowned. "I can imagine, but-"

"No, Jack. No you can't."

"You didn't lose her, Ethan took her-"

"Thus the lie. I can't even tell my sister the truth. Can you imagine that? That would just about kill her. I've lost her once, I can't do that again."

Jack sighed, reached down, and took her hand. "I just heard Toni too, but… I don't know, Jane. It's just… with these… Others… we haven't physically seen her since… since that. Jane, you may have to consider that… … Charlie and Claire got off… easier than your sister did. If you want another person with you to tell Gabby, I'll be there

Jane stared, then scoffed, yanking her hand out of his. "I don't need you to be there, and I really don't want you to be right now." She turned on her heel and started towards the beach.

"Ugh. Where are you going?" Jack called after her.

"Getting my bag and getting Sawyer then going back out to look, because even if he might share your opinion on Toni's situation, he won't throw it in my face."

Jack flinched, then followed her. He was at a loss of what to do for her, once again.


	8. Take the Shot

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. What happened to all my reviewers with the last chapter? I miss you! Come back to me! Haha. Anyways, yeah, I don't own Lost, blah blah blah.**

"Copper, slow down, damn it. You asked for my help, but you leave me behind the whole damn time. Why'd you need me, then?" Sawyer demanded. He shoved side various foliage to keep up with the police officer on her seemingly-endless task of trying to find her sister. "You know just as well as I do that I don't wanna agree with the Doc, but… your sister may not-"

"Don't even finish that sentence." Jane snapped from a few feet ahead. She turned and crossed her arms, waiting for him to catch up.

Sawyer made it over to her, then looked her over. She was accepting his comments more than usual, even if she was fighting back, she was jittery, and she had stopped less often than previous searches for Toni-Anne. Something was different- something was wrong. "Hold on, Police Officer Barbie. What… what's different? What's so special about this hunt this time that you just about tore the Doc a new one and you're being a lot nicer to me?"

Jane opened her mouth, closed it, and looked away for a second. She sighed, as if collecting herself, then looked back at him. She tossed her hands out briefly. "Today's Toni's birthday, Sawyer. It's her birthday, she's missing, and I'm lying to my sister about it. Right now, we should be home in L.A, throwing a party for her at my friend Kevin's house, and trying to liquor her up and arguing that it's only one more year 'til it's legal. But no, we're stuck here, Birthday Girl-less…" She looked back at Sawyer, expecting him to burst out laughing. Instead, she was surprised to find understanding and sympathy written on his features. Now that was new.

Sawyer sighed and looked around, finding a fork in the oncoming path that branched out into three separate paths. He picked up a stone off the ground and chucked it towards the paths. It landed nearest to the right one. "…Ain't quite the road less travelled, but it'll have to work. Come on. Let me lead this time." He headed off towards the right way, leaving Jane to follow slowly, with a small appreciative smile on her face.

They continued down the path, going back and forth from a few of the ones that branched off, but there was still no luck. This time around, it was eerily quiet. Once they reached a clearing, they sat down, trying to plan out where to go next. That all changed when Sawyer hissed in pain and grabbed his injured shoulder.

The woman studied him, sighed, then got up. "Come on, let's head back to camp and get your bandages taken care of."

Sawyer blinked. "I thought we were on a roll with your sister."

Jane shook her head. "We've had nothing but dead ends lately. What's another one to add to the list? You're hurt, and that takes precedence in my book. Besides, you look like crap. Toni sounded fine." She took his hand and pulled him upright, before leading them back the way they came. They reached the hatch, and went inside.

What they didn't count on, however, was the eerie silence seemed to follow them inside. Locke wasn't around to greet them, and Eko and Michael were nowhere to be found, either. The pair looked at each other before stepping closer to one another.

Jane took out the gun from her waistband, and looked at Sawyer before pointing at the safe in the corner. She raised her free hand and flicked her fingers to signal the combo was thirty-three, four , twenty-five.

Sawyer went over to the safe, opened it, and withdrew the handgun inside. He returned to Jane's side and motioned for her to walk.

Jane nodded, subconsciously doing the police hand-motion for doing the order. They edged around the main couple of rooms, still finding it empty. Jane looked around once more, then threw caution to the wind. "Locke? Mike? … Jack?" She froze when she heard the said men's voices in what seemed like the distance. She followed them to the room with the gunsafe. "Holy sh… Jack? Locke?" She tugged on the handle as the two inside kept calling for them.

"What'd they say?" Sawyer asked.

Jane paused, then made out what the other two were saying. "Shit. The computer. Sawyer, get to the computer, type in four, eight, fifteen, sixteen, twenty-three, forty two? You remember that? Four, eight, fifteen, sixteen, twenty-three, forty two." She repeated.

Sawyer mumbled the numbers, nodded, then headed for the computer.

Jane turned back to the door. "Guys, I only know the little one's combo! You're gonna have to tell me this one!"

"Nine, six, twenty-five!" Locke called.

Jane entered the numbers and opened the door to find Jack and Locke looking damn near furious. "… What'd I do?"

"You didn't do anything." Jack replied, then nodded at her gun. "You're gonna need that. Locke," He turned and handed him a gun. "We're going after him."

"Define 'him.' What did we miss? How'd you guys get in there?" Jane asked.

"I'll explain on the way. Come on." Jack just short of stormed across the room.

Jane followed him, grabbing Sawyer's hand as she did so, dragging him along.

Sawyer turned to Locke, who started after him. "What happened?"

"Michael went after Walt." Locke replied.

Jane frowned and looked at him. "So why put you guys in there?"

"You tell us," Jack replied, looking back at her briefly. He spotted Sawyer's hand in hers and tried not to make a face. He settled for looking down. "He shouldn't come. He's worse off than you are."

"Hey, if the third or fourth best shot is going, then the… well, second or third is coming too." Jane protested.

"Aww, shucks, Copper!" Sawyer beamed.

"Shut it, Huckleberry."

"Oh, cute, since I'm already Sawyer you called me-"

"We know, Sawyer!" The other three cut him off before finally reaching the exit and heading into the jungle.

* * *

><p>The group travelled in silence until they reached a clearing on one of the highest hills in the area. Locke turned to Sawyer and Jane. "Does any of this look familiar from when you were coming back?"<p>

Sawyer took a couple of steps forward. "Oh yeah, there's my favorite leaf. How could I forget this place?"

Jack groaned and rolled his eyes. "Sawyer, come-"

"Jack, easy." Jane put her hand up. "Look, sure, that was a dumb response, but… Sawyer's got a point. It all looks the same after a while."

Jack looked at Sawyer and motioned at her. "Was that so hard to say?"

"Yeah, it was." Sawyer shot back and advanced on the doctor.

Jane bolted between them, putting a hand on each of their chests. "Guys, not the time. Let's find Michael, and get back, huh?"

The men glared each other down.

Locke waited a few moments, then started up the questioning again. "Back to business. When you came across the island, what side was the ocean on?"

Sawyer and Jane looked at each other, trying to remember. The Southerner shrugged, then pointed to his left. Jane hesitated, then nodded. "Looks about right." She replied, then rolled her eyes when Sawyer dropped his arm so it went around her shoulders.

Locke looked at them for a moment, then looked at their surroundings. "It was on the East. Michael's heading North."

"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?" Sawyer asked.

Locke looked at Jane. "Care to explain it to him?"

Jane shrugged. "Locke, I have no idea. I just did the chasing, tackling, yelling and cuffing. I didn't work out directions."

"It means he's not going back to where he came from." Jack cut in. "… He's heading somewhere else…"

Jane sighed. "Fantastic. If we get lost, can I beat the crap outta him?"

"You'll have to get in line, Sister." Sawyer replied. " 'Cause if I end up straining to much on this adventure, my Doc's gonna be pretty angry."

Jack glared at him, before starting off in the direction they were going once again. The other three exchanged looks before following.

* * *

><p>The chase continued, and Jane was beginning to think it was Toni-Anne all over again. They were getting nowhere fast, and on top of that, Sawyer was fading just as fast. They stopped to rest at another clearing, and Jane took to making sure Sawyer hadn't opened his wound. She looked up, just in time to spot the water bottle Locke had coming right for her. She hid a yelp and ducked to avoid it. Sawyer, on the other hand, caught it in one hand with no problem. He took a swig, and handed it to her. She took a drink as well, then settled back down, putting the bottle between the arches of her feet.<p>

"So… twenty bucks says this ain't gonna get us anywhere." Sawyer muttered.

Jane snorted. "There's no bet. I'm pretty sure we all know it's not getting anywhere… we just don't wanna admit it." She said, then her small smile faded. "… Like Toni."

Sawyer hesitated, then tossed an arm around her again. "Hey, we'll find her. More people like her more than Mike, anyway. That means chances are better."

Jane's smile was back. She prodded his side. "Jerk,"

Sawyer winked at her. He glanced over at Locke and Jack, who were still talking quietly. He sighed, then reached for the water bottle. He took it and raised it towards her. "I never called anyone a name that reflected how I didn't feel about them."

Jane poked his side again, then raised her head when Jack motioned for them to get up. The hunt was on again.

* * *

><p>More time passed, and time found the group climbing up a rock ledge. After a particularly hard tug on the vine, Sawyer grunted. "You sure Mike went this way?"<p>

"Why d'you ask?" Locke questioned.

"Oh, I dunno, Mr. Clean. I woulda gone around Mount Vesuvius." Sawyer replied. "We got a lady with us-"

"A lady cop who can take it and not whine, Sawyer." Jane cut in.

Locke chuckled, then paused. "Hey, why'd you pick that name?"

Jane frowned. She had a feeling about Sawyer's real name not being Sawyer and she guessed Jack had too. She glanced back at Jack, who looked curious as her about the conman's answer.

"Ain't it obvious?" Sawyer asked after Locke helped him over a large gap in the rock. "All you need is an earring and a mop."

Jane tried not to laugh when Jack groaned. They both knew Sawyer was just avoiding the real question.

Locke also chuckled. "No, your name. Why'd you pick Sawyer?"

"What do you mean pick?" Sawyer asked.

"After the census, Hurley gave me the flight manifest. Your name is James. James Ford."

Jane glanced between the men, not missing Sawyer's murderous look. She had forgotten all about his letter until then. James. It felt odd just thinking of him with any name other than Sawyer. James didn't fit her friend. Hell, calling him a friend still seemed foreign.

"What's it to you?" Sawyer demanded.

"Just an interesting name to choose, is all." Locke replied. "Where'd you get it from?"

"Who said I got it from anybody?" Sawyer shot back. A moment later, a gunshot rang out. The Southerner pulled Jane against him protectively, pulling her down as they ducked. Four more shots rang out.

"Michael!" Jack called.

Two shots followed his call.

"Jack, get down!" Locke ordered.

Jack paid no mind and took off towards the shots. The others exchanged uneasy looks before running after him. They ran for what seemed like ages until the noise died down and they reached a small clearing. Jane just about dove to the side to avoid ramming right into Jack's back. After a few moments, Locke waved them over to something. He pointed at a scuff on one of the trees. Jane had seen it too many times to think it was anything else. "Bullet graze…"

"Exactly," Locke nodded.

"He's close…" Jack said.

"Yeah, and if he was shooting at someone, you want them coming back?" Locke asked.

"Personally? Hell yeah." Sawyer replied.

Jack paused. "You said those people were two days across the island."

"Yeah, and they took Cindy less than a mile from our camp." Sawyer replied.

Locke, who had wandered away a short distance, waved them over again. "Over here." He pointed out shell casings on the ground.

"How many are there?" Jack asked.

Locke examined them. "Three, Michael's."

Sawyer made a face. "You boys deaf? I heard at least seven shots. You heard, Daniel Boone, what's your count?"

"Yeah, seven sounds about right." Locke replied.

Sawyer looked at Jane. "Copper?"

"What he said." Jane agreed.

Sawyer nodded, then glanced up. "It's getting dark. Which way did Mike go?" Jack stared at the conman, but it didn't go unnoticed. "What?" Sawyer demanded.

"Are you out here for Michael, or is this payback for getting shot?" Jack asked.

"Jack!" Jane protested.

Sawyer put his hands up to silence her. "Why are you out here, Doc? You got your reasons and I got mine."

"For the love of God. Who cares? One of ours just ran off on his own, probably looking for trouble. Can we find him before he gets himself or us killed, without the drama? Please?" She edged between them again.

The men glared at each other before slowly turning away and going their own direction for a few steps. Jane watched them and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>Another hour or so passed, and darkness had found the group. Locke had lost the trail, so Jack had stopped to have everyone light torches.<p>

Locke looked around. "We should head back."

Sawyer frowned. "What?"

Jack nodded. "Just find the trail, John…"

"I've lost the trail."

Jack scodffed. "You can't just lose a trail! You just don't want to find him."

Jane turned on him. "Wha- Ugh. Jack, can I talk to you- alone?" She touched his arm.

"No, let's hear him out, Jane. " Locke replied. "'Cause he's completely right. I've been running in the jungle toward the sound of gunfire because I don't care about Michael…" He turned away.

"Don't turn around on me, John!" Jack called after him.

"You're not going to get him to come back and you know it!" Locke argued.

"Oh my God…" Jane looked up, then started walking away as well. She glanced at Sawyer, who seemed to into the brewing fight. She walked over to stand next to one of the trees bordering the clearing. She stopped and squinted. She could've sworn she saw something move in the shadows beyond there. She shrugged it off. It was just paranoia now. They were in the clear. She hoped. She flinched when she heard Jack continue arguing.

"And what happens if we just turn around and go back? We're never gonna see him again? And that's gonna be on us- on you, and on me." Jack insisted.

"You're exactly right, Jack. But if I were you, I'd listen to Mr. Locke."

The unknown voice that came out of nowhere startled the group. They didn't let it take over too long, however. Within seconds, they had their guns trained on the man who came out of the shadows.

"Who are you?" Jack demanded.

"He's the son of a bitch that shot me on the raft." Sawyer replied, and with a growl, advanced, Hell-bent on shooting the stranger.

"Why don't you put the gun down?" The man suggested.

A moment later, a gunshot rang out, and Sawyer stumbled back.

"Sawyer!" Jane called, starting towards him, but the stranger drew a gun and pointed it at her. "Don't you move, Sweetheart."

Jane glared at him, then looked at Sawyer, who was now looking more furious, holding his hand to his neck. He pulled his hand back, showing blood. "I'm fine, Copper. Don't do anything stupid."

Had she not been at gunpoint, Jane would've taken a risk and slapped the man. Look who was talking.

Jack frowned, not looking away from the man. "What do you want?"

The man just smiled. "Why don't you build us a fire, John? I think it's time we all had a talk." He said. He looked at Jane. "And you, Young Lady. I don't like pointing my gun at women, so do you promise to behave so I can put this down?"

Jane glared him down, then nodded. She knew she didn't have much of a choice.

"Good," The man nodded and lowered his gun. "Now, let's get that fire going and talk business."

* * *

><p>Jane stared at the men who were now gathered around the fire Locke had started. She hadn't moved. She wasn't going to let any other surprises happen. She was perfectly happy playing guard dog from afar. Jack wasn't far away. He wasn't convinced it was just a friendly visit either. His eyes hadn't left the stranger.<p>

The stranger set his eyes on them for the first time in a few minutes. "Jack, Jane! No one's gonna hurt you. I come in peace."

" 'Scuse us when we don't believe a word of that." Jane shot back.

Locke glanced at her, then back at the stranger. "How do you know our names?" His only response was a smile.

Jack shook his head. "You took Walt…"

The man shrugged. "Walt's fine. He's a very special boy."

Jack scowled. "You said you wanted to talk. Talk."

The man shrugged. "Let me ask you something. How long have you been on the island?"

"Fifty days," Jack replied, not missing a beat.

The man laughed. "Oooh, fifty days, That's what? Almost two whole months now? Tell me, you go over a man's house for the first time, do you take off your shoes? Do you put your feet up on his coffee table? Do you walk in the kitchen, eat food that doesn't belong to you?" He turned his attention to Locke. "Open the door to rooms you got no business opening? You know, somebody a whole lot smarter than anyone here once said 'since the dawn of our species, man's been blessed with curiosity'- you know the other one about curiosity, don't you, Jack? This is not your island. This is out island. And the only reason you're living on it is because we let you."

Jack grinned sarcastically, advancing on him. "I don't believe you."

"You don't believe what?" The man demanded.

Jack shrugged, then motioned at the jungle. "I think you've got one guy up there with a gun. I think there's more of us than there are of you. I think if you had any real strength, you wouldn't have sent a spy- Ethan."

The man laughed. "That's an interesting theory…" He raised his hands. "Light 'em up!" He barked.

The group looked around, then gawked as several torches lit up all around them, indicating that they were surrounded by the stranger's own group of comrades.

The man continued. "We've got a misunderstanding, Jack. Your people, my people. So listen carefully. Right here, there's a line. You cross that line, we go from misunderstanding to something else. Now give me your weapons, turned around, go home."

Jack scoffed. "No,"

Locke cut in. "Jack, maybe…"

"No!" Jack repeated.

The man sighed. "Fine. You wanna play that game? We'll play." He snapped his fingers.

Jane frowned. There was rustling in front of her, then a man dressed in nothing but black emerged from the bush beside the tree and grabbed her before she even had the chance to turn to run. He knocked the gun out of her hand and kicked it away. Jane tried to elbow the latest newcomer, only to find a gun pressed to the side of her head. She froze on the spot and looked up, seeing Jack look utterly horrified, and Sawyer was even angrier, if that was even possible.

The latter man scoffed. "Hell no!" He raised his gun and aimed it squarely at the man's head.

"Ah, ah, ah." The leader of the new group protested. "If he goes down, she's gonna go down by at least one outta twenty of these guys." He motioned at the others holding torches.

"Sawyer, take the goddamn shot!" Jane ordered, struggling against the man's grip.

The leader laughed. "She's stubborn. I like that. Thing is, I can end what I like with no problem. Jack, we've seen that you've taken a shine to this one- so has that one." He nodded at Sawyer. "So, let's have you decide, so if you give the answer that he doesn't like, it won't work out for you either. Can you live with the fact that I can have her killed right before your eyes when you could've saved her life by giving up and going home, or are you gonna give me your guns, turn around and walk away? It's your call?"

"Sawyer, take the shot!" Jane repeated.

Sawyer glanced at Jack, shook his head, and repositioned the gun, ready to take her advice.

"Sawyer, no," Jack protested, putting his free hand up. He dropped his gun and looked at the leader.

The leader nodded at the others. "Now them."

Locke slowly put his own gun down.

The leader smirked. "And the other one."

Locke took the gun he had stashed in his pocket and put it with the other one.

Sawyer hesitated, glaring down the man again. "You aint me aint done, Zeke." He lowered his own gun.

The man took the guns, and signaled for the man to let Jane go. The one holding Jane shoved her into Jack's arms, then turned and left with the others. The group waited a few minutes, letting dead silence pass until they were all satisfied that they were alone again. Jack subconsciously tightened his hold on Jane and rubbed her arms. "You okay?"

Jane let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding and tucked her head under his chin. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good. You're an idiot, by the way."

Jack scoffed. "Well, at least you're still around to call me one because of my call."

Sawyer sighed. "You sure you're okay, Copper?"

Jane turned her head to glare at him, then pushed away from Jack in order to go over to Sawyer and jab her finger into his chest. "You. Goddamn it, you. If I ever tell you to take a shot again, I don't care about the circumstances, you take it. Do you hear me? Don't hesitate because you might hit me, or wait for an answer because some dramatic shit is going on, you pull the damn trigger so the danger is over with. You got me?" She demanded.

Sawyer gawked, then nodded slowly. "Yeah… "

"Good." She sighed. "Now, if we just agreed to that bullshit, let's get back to camp, because I'd like to get completely hammered to try and forget the fact I just had a gun to my head." She turned on her heel and headed back in the direction they had come, without even waiting for an answer. The others looked at each other with separate emotions running through their heads before following after.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back with the Others, the apparent leader took a walkie-talkie off his belt. "Hey, Boss. It's Tom. You were right. She's perfect. Now get her sister back out here so we can get things going."<p>

* * *

><p>Jack glanced over at Jane's tent, taking in the woman sitting down, staring at something. A half empty bottle of whiskey was at her feet, and a candle was lit beside her. He sighed and walked over. "Hey,"<p>

Jane looked up at him and blinked a couple of times. "Oh, hey,"

Jack smiled weakly. "Drunk already? That didn't take long."

"Well, I have a lot on my mind. You wanna join me?" She offered him the bottle.

Jack paused, then took it and had a small sip. He glanced at the photo. It was of a little girl who looked at lot like Jane, no more than six. "What's that?"

Jane sighed. "That would be one of the surviving pictures of Toni from my wallet…" She replied, taking back the bottle and taking another swig. "It's her birthday today. Did you know that?"

Jack flinced. "Jane, I'm sorry."

"S' Okay. We're… we're gonna fin' 'er, and then we're gonna have a belated celebration." She replied. She tossed her arm around him, and Jack looked from her arm, to her, not sure whether to laugh or not. She pointed at him. "Alright, Handsome. Clearly something's on your mind, or you have a question, so shoot."

Jack contemplated whether or not to ask at that particular time, then figured it was now or never, and her inner cop would read the question loud and clear. "Look… I don't want that happening to you ever again, or… to anyone, really, so… how long do you think it would take to train an army?"

Sure enough, Jack was right. There had never been a question that sobered Jane up so quickly. The issue was, she didn't have an answer just yet.


	9. Side of a Bullet

**A/N: Mini "Life on Mars (US)" crossover here. Stole a couple of the cops and dropped em in here. Couldn't resist. Sorry an update took so long. Life, as per usual. **

* * *

><p><em>The doors to the Tampa Bay Police Station swung open, catching a dazed Jane and Kevin by surprise. The two had just brought in a drug lord by chance alone, and the whole precinct knew by now, and were determined to congratulate the pair. Sure enough, three other patrol officers, Sam Tyler and Ray Carling, their closest friends on the force, were on the other side of the doors.<em>

_Ray was the first to raise his gift to them- a six pack of beer. "I call getting Payton drunk off her ass and taking her home tonight!" He called._

_Kevin and Jane both laughed, and Jane got up in order to address her friend. "I would only go that far for you, Honey." She kissed him on the cheek. "Now, gimme that wine. Let's do this classy- paper cups and everything."_

_Sam grinned, then held up his own gift- another six pack, then motioned at Hunt's- a box of donuts, before shaking hands with Kevin and giving Jane a kiss on the cheek. "You guys earned this. Donuts and wine. The Hell with it if it's a horrible combo. We'll regret it in the morning."_

_The three others cheered before starting off their celebration. Sure, it was dumb having it there in the office, but Hell, they were off duty and Kevin and Jane- the Dynamic Duo, as they were known, deserved it in their books. They were all surprised when their Captain- Raul Sanderson joined the party as well. A couple of hours went by fast, and it showed in Raul, Kevin and Ray's quickly fading sobriety. Forty five minutes into the little party the three men were tripping over each other and giggling about it, while Sam and Jane, ever the 'boring' half of their respective partnerships, got slightly buzzed and kept the others out of trouble. None of the younger two men picked up on the hungry way Raul had started to look at Jane halfway through the celebration. By the time the next shift of officers came in, the group had to start cleaning up. When they finished, Raul tossed his arms around Kevin and Jane. "You two. I love you. I wanna talk about your futures here and where this whole thing is gonna take ya. Jane, you in the office first." He instructed._

_Kevin and Jane looked at each other, then shrugged. Jane followed Raul into his office. She smiled at him. "Go on, Boss. What's up?"_

_He turned around abruptly, making her stumble back. "… You're very pretty, did you know that?"_

_Jane blinked. Where'd that come from? Was he that drunk. "Um, thank you."_

_He sighed. "God, why can't I find a girl like you? It's always the blondes for me- like that annoying girl Shannon from before with that robbery case."_

_Jane's growing frown deepened when he put her hand on her knee. "Whoa, slow down there, Cap. You've had a mite too much to drink, there, and…"_

_"Why?" He repeated, and tightened his grip on her knee._

_Holy shit. Jane panicked. "Cap, come on, you're drunk."_

_"Then what's your problem with me, huh? We'd just forget by tomorrow."_

_Jane yanked her leg back. "Uh, no we wouldn't, because I'm not nearly as drunk as you are and this is- get off, Raul!" She snapped when he put his hand back on her thigh and slid it up. She let out a yelp when he just about slammed his lips to hers._

_He pulled back"Why? Are you upset I'm not Kevin?" Raul asked and advanced on her again, his hand still on her thigh, and his head dropped to her neck._

_"Raul, listen to me. No. You're drunk. I don't want this, I don't want Kevin either, get OFF!" She tried to shove at his chest, but he kept pressing on- literally. When one of his hands reached her crotch, Jane figured going against him directly wasn't going to work. Her next best bet was moving the table he had backed her up against. She grabbed the edges and sure enough, when she lurched to the left enough, the table went with her- and the other side came up so fast it hit Raul square in the face. In his drunken stupor, he found that action to be her fault and launched himself at her. "You bitch!"_

_Jane bolted for the door, but he was faster._

_Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Kevin and Sam had heard the comment. Sure, they had heard the ruckus, but didn't think much of it, until that._

_"Kev…" Sam muttered._

_Kevin muttered 'yeah' before bolting for the door. Sam was behind him. Neither knew what to expect. When they opened the door, they definitely weren't expecting to see the pair of them on the floor- more specifically Raul apparently trying to force himself on Jane, who was struggling for any vantage point to get out as she could. Jane spotted her friends and let out a squeal of protest that was half swallowed by Raul's mouth._

_To say that the sight to behold was one of the quickest sobering events of Kevin's life would be completely true. He stopped gawking and came up with a plan of action as he advanced on the two. He grabbed Raul by the shoulders, yanked him back, then off of Jane. Sam ducked in quickly and all but dragged Jane out of the room as fast as possible. A moment later, Kevin tossed Raul halfway across the room before preparing for a quick beatdown he was pretty sure he would lose his job for. At that rate, even if he knew his boss was drunk off his ass, he didn't even want to bother to care._

_On the other side of the door, Sam furiously rubbed Jane's back as the now-sobbing mess clung to him like her life depended on it. He wanted to close the door to at least muffle Kevin delivering his last few punches, but by the stunned looks of the surrounding crowd, there was little left to the imagination. He couldn't believe his and Kevin's timing. If their speculation on what was going on was right- and it was pretty damn clear it was- they had made perfect timing. What if they were seconds too late? Sure, Jane still managed to fight Raul off enough that her clothing was still intact, and all that was going to hurt in the long run was her trust and job, but… it still terrified him. What if she hadn't been able to yell? What if she hadn't gotten an upper hand for a moment?_

_"It's okay. You're okay. It's over. It's… what the Hell was that?" He muttered rhetorically._

_When Jane muttered something he couldn't make out in response, he just held her tighter. He noticed two people coming over. Hell, this was a police station that an attempted rape had just occurred in. How did something like this work? He was the captain, too. The whole drinking thing wasn't gong to mix well with the story, either. He took a deep breath, trying to gather every possible thought he could of the events that transpired in the last… five minutes, and prepared to blurt them out. This was going to be a long couple of days. He just knew it. He glanced up at Ray as the man joined them. Very long indeed._

* * *

><p>Jane glanced around from the clearing she had sat herself in the middle of. She had been out there most of the night and into the afternoon after her and Jack's talk. Sure, she had told him she wouldn't run off, go after the Others, or her sister for that matter, but… at least she didn't run off too far. She glanced at the gun beside her. She wasn't too far off from where they had been ambushed two nights before. At this rate, she wanted them to find her. Her head snapped to the right when she heard leaves crushing and twigs snapping under someone's weight. She reached for her gun, then recognized the unruly mop of dirty blonde hair. She groaned and let her hand go back to her side.<p>

Sawyer stared at her, then sighed. He turned around. "Doc, I got 'er! She's fine! Go back!" He called.

Jack shouted something that got lost in a gust of wind.

Sawyer waited a moment before joining her on the rock. He sighed. "You sure know how to scare people who care about ya, Copper."

Jane shook her head. "These guys might have my sister, Sawyer. I can't… I don't care that I've done this so many times now. At this rate, let them come to me so I can get to her."

Sawyer frowned, then tossed one arm around her. "Come here. Copper, look-"

"If you so much as say she's a lost cause, I will punch you in the face."

Sawyer sighed and looked around. "I didn't say that. I was gonna say at least wait 'til I can get my stuff and help you instead of helping the Doc find you while thinking you got taken." Sawyer replied.

"Then go get your stuff. I'm not moving." Jane replied.

"Yes you are." Sawyer replied.

"No, I'm not."

Sawyer stood up and smirked. "Yes you are." He took her gun, tucked it into his pants, then turned his attention back to her.

Jane looked at him. "I told you-" She stopped when he saw him approach her and then lower his good shoulder. She knew what was to come from that action alone. Kevin had done it far too many times for her not to. "Don't you dare-AH!" Sure enough, she found herself getting hoisted up onto his shoulder. He started fighting against him, more so when he locked his arm around her waist. "What're you- put me down! Your shoulder- Jack's gonna kill you! He'll kill me!"

Sawyer chuckled. "Hey, the whole you battin' your eyelashes thing worked last time. Taking you home, now."

"No! Put me down!" She jerked away when he slapped her behind weakly.

"Shut up and enjoy the ride, Arwen."

"… Arwen? Really?" When Sawyer didn't reply, she surrendered. She relaxed on his shoulder, ducking every so often to avoid a low branch. When they reached the beach, he set her down. Sure enough, within a few moments, Jack was on his way over, glaring at the both of them.

"Bat the eyelashes…" Sawyer muttered.

"Shut up." Jane hissed.

Jack tossed his arms out. "Where were you?" He scoffed. "Don't answer that. Why did I even ask? How many times do I have to tell you to stay put until someone can go with you to check things out? Now we know the Others are out there, our asses are on the line. I can't have you running off after these guys alone when all you have is a handgun and you're faster than them. "

"So I've heard."

"So I keep telling you and you keep ignoring me!" Jack countered. "We've been over this, yeah, 'I'm a big girl' is always your argument. Just… listen to someone else other than yourself right now!"

Sawyer cleared his throat. "Uh, Doc, I volunteered to help out-"

"Stay outta this, Sawyer."

Sawyer rolled his eyes, then looked between the glaring pair. "You know, if you guys wanna screw and make up, I can leave- no promises I won't go far, though."

"Shut up!" They both snapped.

Sawyer looked between them, shrugged, then turned on his heel. "Don't say I never left you two to your business." He called over his shoulder.

Jack waited for him to get out of sight. "Jane, bottom line that I keep saying is that I care about you. It's enough having to deal with protecting the rest of the camp- raising that army that we talked about. I can't have you going crazy about something that's been inevitable for days."

"It's not inevitable after we ran into them and they mentioned her." She pointed out.

Jack walked over to her, and put his hands on her shoulders. "Come on. Just… bear with us. I know we lacked hunts for her before, but the dynamics are way different now, and…" He sighed, "Look. I'm just really sick of having this same damn conversation all the time. You're one of the few that really matter to me here, and... handling all this would really suck without you." He looked her in the eye and leaned forward. "Okay?"

Jane took a moment, then nodded. "Fine. Fine for real, this time. I'll stay put. I swear."

Jack gave her a skeptical look.

Jane put her hands up. "I swear. Even put up one of Sayid's… alarms on my tent. Go right ahead. Starting now, 'cause I'm tired as Hell and want to sleep now." She smiled innocently and headed towards camp.

Jack stared at the spot she was in only moments before and opened his mouth. He closed it, raised his eyebrows, and followed after her. He was honestly out of theories about her.

* * *

><p>To Jane's own surprise, she did obey Jack for the rest of the day. She made up a to-do list, mostly consisting of helping Sun and Libby do laundry and making food runs to the hatch. Granted, Jack ensured that someone was with her during those treks, but she kept to the path, just like she promised. The day ended up zooming by. However, when night fell and Jane thought she might've gotten a good night's sleep, that idea came crashing down. She came to after hearing Claire's now-familiar scream of alarm. She scrambled upright, groping around for her gun. Once she found it, she headed out of the tent. She didn't expect Sawyer to pop his head in and offer his hand.<p>

"Claire needs her Island Five-O, Princess." He reported.

"I heard, Sawyer." Jane took his hand and let him pull her up to her feet. "Where is she?" She asked, but her question was answered when Claire all but slammed into her the next moment.

"Someone took Aaron!" Claire shrieked through her sobs.

Jane stared, then groaned. "Fantastic. Lou, get Dylan and Paulo. You guys are with me, we'll go left. Sayid! Take three people and search right!" She called over the commotion. She was barely aware that Sayid yelled his approval and went to get his team together before another voice called out above everyone else's.

"It's okay! We're over here!"

Jane arched an eyebrow, then followed the charge up the hill and over towards where Hurley's voice had come from.

"Is he okay? Is he alright?" Claire called, running over to the two men and immediately taking Aaron from Charlie's arms.

"I don't know what happened." Charlie blurted.

Jane frowned. How'd that add up? He was over his withdrawal enough to not hallucinate… wasn't he?

Claire looked at the man with mixed anger and confusion.

"He's okay, though." Charlie insisted.

Jane crossed her arms over her chest. He sounded… off. Just what the Hell was going on? Why did he have Aaron in the first place?

Charlie advanced on Claire. "I had this dream, I-"

Claire surprised everyone by turning and slapping Charlie hard across the face. The onlookers gawked as Charlie gaped at Claire, looking utterly devastated. A moment later, Claire turned, and headed back inland for her tent. Not knowing what else to do, most of the camp cleared out.

Jane glanced around, then walked over to Charlie. "Hey, uh, Char? What was that about?"

Charlie, who was looking intently at the ground, looked up at her. He struggled like a fish out of water for a few moments, then forced out "I don't know." He looked back down, then started to wander further down the beach.

Jane watched him go until not even the moon picked up his outline. She sighed, and headed back to camp. One thing was enough to worry about at a time.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Jane was toying with one of the golf clubs she had snagged from the golf course when Ana-Lucia approached her.<p>

"Hey, can we talk?" The black-haired woman asked.

"No. I really don't find any reason to talk to you." Jane replied, not missing a beat. She glanced over, feeling eyes on her. She spotted Jack and Sawyer watching the exchange from the medical tent. She turned back, pretending not to notice. She hit a pretend ball into the ocean with the club.

Ana Lucia crossed her arms and studied Jane. "Jack gave us both the whole 'train an army' thing. I figured we should start being civil if we have to work together."

"Still no. I don't work well with people who try to hurt my friends and I." Jane replied, still not meeting her eyes.

Ana Lucia frowned, then shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "… Jane Payton, aren't you?" She asked.

Jane visibly tensed and put down the bottle of water. If Ana Lucia was a cop from L.A, she had a sinking feeling she knew where this was headed. "What's it to you?"

Ana Lucia smirked. "Nothin'. I'm just surprised of all the cops that could've been on that plane with me, it's the LAPD's Finest Whore. Go figure you're still a bitch after everything."

"AY!"

Jane's head shot up, both at Ana Lucia's comment and at Sawyer's unexpected commentary. Where had he been? She saw Sawyer leading Jack over to them. Sawyer didn't look happy with Ana Lucia over the younger woman calling her a whore at all. Neither did Jack, but Jack didn't look ready to kill Ana, either. She looked at Sawyer. "Sawyer, no."

Jack scoffed. "Jane, he may not be going about it the right way, but he's got a point. I don't want to play father here, but there's no need for… name calling like that here, when we have more to worry about. Whatever happened back home is behind us now. Get over it and move on." Jack insisted.

Ana Lucia scoffed. "You might wanna know the story before you defend the girl you're sweet on, Jack. This one really is nothing but a whore. I'm surprised I didn't put it together earlier, the way she is with the both of you."

Jane scowled, then pretended to turn away, only to whirl around and tackle Ana Lucia to the ground. She twisted the woman's arm behind her back. "Run 'LAPD's Finest Whore by my again. Do it. You don't know what you're talking about. Don't get into shit that you have no idea about, do you hear me? DO YOU HEAR ME!"

"Jane!" Jack insisted.

Sawyer sent Jack an 'it has to be done' look before he pried Jane off the other woman and pulled her a few feet away.

"Once a whore, always a whore!" Ana Lucia called, getting up slowly.

Jack snapped his fingers, then pointed the opposite direction. "Leave," He ordered.

Ana Lucia scoffed once again. "Why, because Little Miss Perfect got called out for something true that happened back home?"

"Yes. We have a policy to drop all that, and right now, she's in no shape to hear anything like that if it affects her that way. You wanna help out? Disappear for a while." Jack insisted.

Ana Lucia looked at Jane, who tried to fight against Sawyer's grip to go after her. "Fine by me." She turned on her heel and headed back towards her spot in the camp she was constructing.

Jane finally stopped struggling, and Sawyer let her go. She stumbled a moment, then looked at Jack when he went over to her. "Can we go for a walk… please?"

Sawyer rolled his eyes. "Always the damn Doc…"

Jane shook her head. "No, you would just agree with me too much and inspire me to kill the bitch more than I want to right now." She growled out.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Walk it is." He practically marched over to them, grabbed Jane's hand, then dragged her off toward the path to the hatch. They made it as far as the square rock they thought they had heard Toni-Anne near by the time Jane's stomping had stopped them completely.

Jack let go of her hand, then tossed his own out quickly. "Alright, let it out. You can't get to her, she can't get to you."

Jane stared at him for a while, taking in his offer. It only succeeded in her shaking in anger before she kicked a few dry leaves from the ground and sent them into the breeze. She collapsed in a heap and folded in on herself a moment later.

Jack sighed and sat beside her. He waited a few seconds, letting a silence pass. "So…" Jack looked down at his feet.

Jane flinched. "I take you heard all of Ana's and my discussion and not just select parts." She mused.

"Kinda hard to miss." Jack replied. "Though I think … the nickname is what I wasn't supposed to catch, huh?"

Jane sighed. "So you wanna know what that was about?"

Jack shrugged. "Only if you're willing to tell me."

Jane leaned forward. "Remember when you asked me about killing someone, and I said I have a bullet waiting for someone back home?"

Jack nodded hesitantly. "I… I honestly thought you meant it for the person who put your friend in a coma… I thought I had my answer when you found out it was Kate… I'm guessing that's a no, then?"

Jane raised her eyebrows and nodded. "It's a no. Yep, I think it's time I tell you. You of all people deserve to know."

Jack leaned forward. "Go on,"

Jane looked at him, then straight ahead. "Back like, three years, my own police captain tried to rape me. He was drunk off his ass that time, but… before anything could really happen, Kevin and our friend busted in and got him off me. That started this giant chain of events- nothing was the same. Kevin and Sam- the other cop- tried to get Cap fired… but… he had a lot of connections, so he got to skip around the accusations a lot, despite all our testimonies. I found a couple of other witnesses and even tapeswho would've gotten a good case against him, and… somehow, he found out. He tried to rape me… again- percectly sober this time. Got a little further, but my angel Kevin got to me in time. Beat the shit outta the Cap this time. Cap didn't like that. He tried to turn it around that I seduced him. He spread the story and it stuck, thus 'LAPD's Finest Whore.' As if that wasn't enough, he fired us, then made it just about impossible to get more police jobs. Lucky Kev had family in Miami Dade that took us in because he believed us over what the Cap spread. We moved there, he found 'Monica' A.K.A Kate, that whole thing happened, and I came running back to L.A and was lucky enough to find a precinct who's head hated Sanderson" She licked her lips and shook her head. "Surprise, surprise."

Jack opened his mouth, then shut it firmly, not at all knowing what to say. "Oh, God," He pulled her into a tight hug.

Jane returned it, barely having the energy to to much else. "So… yeah… the bullet's meant for good old Captain Raul Sanderson. God, if he could see me now… this island… Why couldn't he have been on the damn plane? Why couldn't he have died in the crash, or left for Ethan, or that… smoke thing?"

"Because life's never that fair." Jack deadpanned.

Jane laughed weakly, then sighed. "You're… I'm pretty sure the first person outside my family I told about that whole thing." She hesitated, then rested her head on his shoulder.

Jack shrugged "Well, as morbid as that was, I'm honored, then."

Jane half scoffed, half hummed. "You're a good guy, Jack. I wish we had met before this whole fiasco."

"You're not so bad yourself, and so do I." Jack replied. He glanced at her, then reached up and rubbed the back of her neck. "You're gonna be fine." He reassured her.

Jane nodded. "Hope so," She glanced at him and returned the smile once more.

Jack smiled, then turned to her more. He didn't know what possessed him, but he brought his free hand to the other side of her neck.

The pair stared each other down for a couple of moments, and the next thing they knew, their lips were brushed against each other's. Neither of them were sure they could even call it a kiss, and Jack was about to change that fact, when-

"JANE!"

The two practically sprang apart before laughing nervously.

"I should go…" Jane muttered quickly, not at all ready to meet his eyes.

"Yeah." Jack supplied.

Jane muttered quick apology before bolting for the beach. Whatever Claire's issue was this time, it better have been worth it.

* * *

><p>If anyone had asked Jane if it was worth it a few hours later, she would've said no. Claire was having more issues with Charlie, and was apparently Hell-bent on letting anyone but herself handle them. It didn't help at all that shortly after Claire's protest to his presence, Charlie disappeared for hours.<p>

As if she felt she hadn't been thrown enough curve balls that day alone, a fire breaking out in the brush a few feet inland from camp seemed to be the icing on the cake. The fact that it was apparently all a distraction made my Charlie so he could get Aaron 'baptized' when no one else but Eko was aware definitely topped the list. It all led to a showdown where everyone was convinced Claire would never speak to Charlie again, and Locke gave Charlie a beating he would not soon forget.

By the time everyone cleared out, Jane just wanted to go to bed, and at that rate, never wake up unless she was back home in her own bed in California. A girl could hope, couldn't she?


	10. This Here's My Deputy

**A/N: Soap-Opera-esque drama ahead. Seriously. I actually took a break because I wondered where the Hell I got the ideas from. Anyways, I hope you peeps still enjoy it. I don't own Lost, blah blah blah.**

* * *

><p>Sawyer rolled his eyes when he heard Jane let out a whimper in her sleep for the seventh time in the last hour. She had woken him up ages ago, and any time he came close to sleeping again, she would start again. Their latest tent guest, Gabriella, hadn't so much as stirred. He wondered if what was probably her reaction to a nightmare was common back home. But then again, she had plenty of opportunity to have one here on the Island, and no such luck. Well, there was the one occurrence, but that hadn't been as bd as this one. He reached over and poked her shoulder. "Copper…" No luck. "Five-Oh." He shook her. Still nothing. "Come on, Copper!" He smacked the side of her arm lightly, and that got her up. He honestly felt bad when she scrambled as far from his hand as possible, going wide-eyed in the process. He wanted to flip off Gabriella when that of all things woke her up. He scooted closer. "It's me, Copper. You're okay."<p>

Jane visibly relaxed, but still remained curled up. She sighed and pulled her pillow closer to her.

"What happened?" Sawyer asked.

"It was… … God. Everyone back home… who nearly came on the plane… my uncle, Kevin, Dan… Michelle, even. They were all here… and… those… Others killed them. We came across their bodies, and Ethan was there, and…" She sighed and sat up. After a moment of hesitation, Jane leaned against Sawyer. "It was just too real…" She rubbed her face with her hands.

Sawyer stared at her for a moment. He would've figured she would've leaned on Gabriella. Then again, he hadn't seen her in ages. Hell, he had spent more time with her than her sister. "You're okay…" He repeated, putting an arm around her. "No one's gonna hurt you or anyone when I'm here." He muttered. He wanted to hit himself afterward. Did that really just come out of his mouth? He turned towards the opening of the tent when a shadow crossed in front of it. He frowned when he saw it was Jack. "Doc…"

Jack stared at the sight to behold for a second, eyes resting on Jane for a few more seconds. "Am I interrupting something?"

While Jane replied 'no', Sawyer growled out a 'yes.'

Jack blinked. "I need to talk to Jane for a second."

Gabriella smiled and stared to get up.

Jack pointed at her. "Gabby, you can stay. Sawyer can't."

Sawyer looked from him, to Jane, and when Jane remained silent, he looked back at Jack. "Why?"

"Business," Jack shrugged.

Sawyer scoffed. "Fine," He got up and stormed out, knocking his shoulder into Jack's in the process.

Jack moved to adjust himself, then went back in. He nodded at Gabriella and nodded a greeting, then looked at Jane. "… Hi."

"Hi," Jane smiled weakly. "So… what's up?"

Gabriella was no fool. She knew something had gone down between them since she last saw them together. "… I think I hear Sun calling me…"

The other two weren't fooled, either. They made a face at her, and she shrugged it off before hurrying out. When she knew she was out of Jack's eyeline, she turned to her sister, pointed to him, and mouthed 'explain later' before hurrying off.

Jane watched her, then looked back at Jack. "Well?"

"I'm gonna need you and your gun in a couple of hours to go hunting, and I also need to know where Sawyer keeps his regular stash."

"Same place I keep my gun on his side." She nudged the border of his sleeping mat. "Under here. Anything specific you're looking for?"

"Painkillers, what else with him?" Jack demanded, digging through one of the cases. Jack knelt down and started going through everything. He found the bottle of painkillers he was looking for and got a better hold on it. He hesitated and turned back. "Look, about… before, I…"

"Jack, don't worry about it." Jane laughed. "Really, it was… nice… Hell, fantastic. Be all gentlemanly and apologize and I swear to God, I'll punch you in the stomach."

Jack laughed weakly. "Then, as corny as this sounds in my head… mind if we try it again?"

A grin slowly spread on Jane's lips. Hell, it was corny, but it was a great line- and the look he gave when he said it didn't help. It took a lot not for her to jump him then and there. She reached up to the back of his neck to bring him down, and right when she was starting to go in, a voice broke out.

"The Hell do you think you're doing?"

The two groaned and pulled away. Sawyer. It was always Sawyer. "Why I am I not surprised?" Jack growled out.

"Next time it'll work. Hell, I'll drag you into the jungle and give the Others something to talk about if it comes to that."

Jack tried not to look taken aback at the comment as Sawyer finally reached them

"I said what the Hell do you think you're doing." Sawyer insisted.

Jack held up the pills. "You stole these from the hatch."

"You stole them from me." Sawyer countered.

"What?" Jack demanded.

Sawyer inched forward, and Jane caught the movement. Oh, here we go again. The alpha male fight. Worst. Time. Ever. She weaved her way between them and pushed Sawyer back. "Guys, come on."

"They were in my stash when I left, I just took back what was mine- Copper, what the Hell are you doin? This is our tent, he should be the one getting tossed out- Hell, but he's apparently getting' all cozy with you, probably just to get my stash." Sawyer replied.

"That is not the case, and the pills belong to all of us, Sawyer." Jack snapped.

"Yeah? Sawyer demanded, and stepped closer again.

Jane yelped, not at all expecting the weight change. She pushed him again. "Take a walk. At least Jack's calm. You went off the handle for nothing. Jack's right, everyone needs those."

"Of course you take his side!" Sawyer scoffed.

"What? Sawyer, come on! This is ridiculous!" Jane replied.

"Why don't you leave so we can settle this ourselves, Copper?" Sawyer snapped.

"So you two can beat the shit out of each other? No! Since when has that worked for either of you, being that it's always both of your solutions when you two are at odds!"

Sawyer scowled, then looked at Jack. "Last chance, Doc. Fork 'em over and we can forget all this happened."

Jack scoffed, before holding up the pills and walking away.

Jane let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She went right back to keeping it when she saw Sawyer looked damn near murderous as he watched Jack leave. She sighed and took hold of his wrist closest to her. "Sawyer, take it easy. It's over. We have sick people and people who are hurt. I'm sure if you want a bottle of painkillers, you'll find one floating around somewhere here. Just let Jack go." When he didn't look at her she practically yanked his chin right so he was looking at her. "Please." She insisted.

Sawyer stared, then growled and pulled back. "Fine… just… what the Hell do you see in that guy?"

"What the Hell is it to you? It's none of your business!"

"When my tentmate and The Wonderful Doctor who I can't stand are about to play tonsil hockey when the Doc was in the middle of stealing something from me, it is."

"It's not yours to steal, Sawyer!" Jane scoffed. "What do Jack and I matter to you, anyway?"

"Do you honestly think you and the Doc gettin' together would end well?" Sawyer asked.

"Yes, actually, it would. How that's any of your business, I don't know." Jane replied.

"I'm lookin' out for ya, Xena." Sawyer replied.

"How? By being… way too overprotective?" Jane shot back. She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. Then it hit her, all at once- why he was being like this."… Is this about Jack and I, or you and I, Sawyer?" She frowned when he looked at her disbelievingly. "I'm a cop. Give me some credit."

Sawyer snarled, then tossed his hands up. "I wish you and the Doc the best, then. Find a different place to sleep tonight." He stalked off.

Jane watched him, then jumped in place, letting out an annoyed groan. How he could always be so infuriating? How could he go from helping her and being one kind to being a an unfeeling bastard the next moment. She didn't want to call him out on the fact it was technically her tent he kicked her out of. She didn't care. Rose and Bernard would probably open up theirs to her and Gabriella. She knew her sister wouldn't go for being alone with the man. She didn't want to go into the logic behind her last question she asked him, either. Where had it come from? She wasn't even sure. She collected herself and headed towards the water to find Gabriella.

She didn't have to look long. Within five minutes, Gabriella reached her.

"So, you're the Island Heartbreaker, huh?" Gabriella grinned.

"No. Just… stop with the nicknames… and I'm not. I just… … it's complicated."

"How is you starting up a little romance with the doctor and Sawyer being jealous about it complicated?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "Try that I just figured out the latter when we were screaming at each other just now." She shook her head. "What am I gonna do, Gabs?"

Gabriella sighed and hugged her. "I don't know, Sweetheart. You always figure it out, though."

"I've never been in this situation before! This doesn't get solved with logic!"

"Which of them are you attracted to?"

Jane just stared at her.

Gabriella gaped at her, then grinned. "You little skank, you! Both of them?"

Jane shrugged. "I don't- I- it's… UGH!" She covered her face with her hands. "You would think I could just get over it and admit it. I'm a horrible person."

"Oh stop. You're doing what any woman would do in your spot... a threesome might work." Gabriella offered.

Jane smacked Gabriella on the arm before putting her hand back on her face. "This is not good. Why me? Why?" She paused when she suddenly felt what was undoubtebly rain start pouring down. She let her arms fall to her sides and looked up. "Are you shitting me?" She yelled.

The two darted for cover. Jane headed for their tent, but when she spotted Sawyer get to it first, she went to move on. She didn't at all expect Sawyer to dart out and drag her back to the tent. "Ah, what're you doing?"

"Startin' my apology. I admit that was just a dick, so keep your mouth shut 'cause this don't happen often! I've just had a really damn bad couple of days, and…" Sawyer yelled over the rain. He pushed her midway into the tent and turned to pull one of the flaps closed. He turned back around to address Jane, when he noticed he was glaring in the opposite direction. He followed her gaze. Kate was on the other side. Fantastic. Now he was the one with badly timed visitors. _Damn it. _

The women continued to stare each other down, which caused a Hell of an awkward silence. That awkward silence, however, made a distant sound catch in the wind. It was someone screaming.

"… Sun." Kate breathed.

Jane quickly retrieved her gun, and within moments, the three of them ran in the direction of the scream. Sun screamed a couple of more times, leading them to the clearing closest to the camp. They spotted Sun on the ground with a black burlap sack over her head. Sawyer pulled it off of her and looked over the woman. He turned her head, revealing a few scrapes along Sun's cheek.

Kate pressed her ear to the other woman's chest.

"She alright?" Sawyer asked.

"She's breathing." Kate reported.

"Go get Jack." Sawyer ordered.

Kate nodded and ran off.

Jane took her place and cupped Sun's face. "Sun, can you hear me? "

"No time, Copper. Lemme get her up so we can get her to the Doc." Sawyer replied.

Jane swallowed hard and nodded, watching as Sawyer picked her up, then darted back towards the beach. She hurried after him. Once they reached the beach, Sawyer left Jane in charge of explaining to passersby who asked what had happened as Sawyer reached the medical tent. Jack arrived moments later. "Is she conscious at all?"

The two shook their heads.

"She say anything?"

"Not a word," Sawyer replied.

Jin came bursting in.

"She's fine, she's alive!" Jack put his hands up, then offered a thumbs up. "Jane, get him out, please."

"Yeah…" Jane nodded and guided Jin outside. The man continued to yell, and like Jack, she put her hands up. "Alive, Jin. Alive." He didn't seem to get it, so she patted his chest, over his heart and patted a couple of times. "Alive," She repeated. By some miracle, he seemed to understand, and calmed down.

Jane pointed back in the tent. "Jack is helping her." She pointed at his and Sun's tent. "Wait there," She pointed from herself to him. "I'll come get you." She prayed those actions were enough as well, and apparently, they were. He reluctantly nodded and walked backwards towards his tent slowly. Jane made sure he stayed there, then went back inside- just in time to hear Ana-Lucia say, "They're back." She had always hated missing context while walking in at a bad moment, but there was no doubting what she meant there. Their world was about to go to Hell… again.

* * *

><p>"They said they would leave us alone." Locke pointed out.<p>

Jack had arranged a small meeting with himself, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Ana-Lucia and Jane after Sun had been patched up to see what their plan of action would be. They were all getting nowhere fast, between the uneasy looks the women were giving each other and the men at odds themselves.

"Well, they also had a gun to my head, they have my sister, they tried to kill Charlie and Claire, they've been picking us off, and now Sun got hurt. 'Scuse me if I don't believe that anymore." Jane cut in.

"… She's right." Kate deadpanned.

"We need to do something." Ana-Lucia added.

"We don't even know what happened." Locke pointed out.

"Did I not just give you a list?" Jane scoffed.

"Well, you're kind of biased here then, aren't you?" Locke demanded.

Jane clenched her jaw and went to take a step. She groaned when Sawyer hooked his arm along her collarbone and pulled her back to him. "I wanna do it to, but it ain't gonna get us anywhere." He hissed in her ear.

Satisfied Jane's episode was done, Jack looked back at Locke. "Do we need to know?"

Another uncomfortable silence passed.

"Where'd you find her?" Ana-Lucia asked.

"Just outside the garden." Kate replied.

"We should take a look around… with guns." Ana-Lucia suggested.

"No!" Locke protested. "We arm up, we're just as likely to shoot each other."

Jack sighed after a moment. "Okay. We wait for Sun to get up, and we'll ask what happened." Jack offered. When Locke nodded, he nodded as well. "And we're gonna do something about it." He walked away.

The rest of the group disbanded after that, with not so much as a word.

* * *

><p>Jane shoved the last shirt she needed to put back into her suitcase and shut it roughly. She laughed a moment later. All the problems she was having that day weren't the suitcases fault. She sat back and sighed.<p>

"Hey, Copper."

Jane flinched. He couldn't stop himself, could he? "What's up, Kid Rock?"

"I mean hurtin' our own people. I'm probably gonna need someone to vouch for me soon…"

Jane frowned and went wide –eyed. "What did you do to Jack?"

Sawyer made a face, then picked up her sneaker and tossed it at her. "Not Jack, you idiot! Your Romeo's just fine! I meant Sun!"

"Then no, of course not. You don't seem like the type who would do that to anyone after… everything."

"Good, 'cause there's something else I'm plottin' and I just wanted to make sure you have my back." Without another word, Sawyer turned and hurried off.

Jane didn't bother running after him this time. Someone would come run and tattle on him shortly, because apparently, she was his personal moral cop, apparently. All she could do was sit and wait. She dug her old crime book out of her bag. She had finished it days ago, but she was too lazy to go to the hatch for a new one, and she didn't mind starting over. She turned to page one, and let herself wander in that world for a bit. By nightfall, she turned out to be right- or she knew she would be, soon. She heard Jack yelling at someone in the distance. After today, she knew it was either Locke or Sawyer on the receiving end. She groaned and got up when a crowd started gathering. "Every goddamn time…" She muttered to herself. Locke, it was. Go figure.

"I want two guns, John! Two!"

"Now Jack-"

"Tell me where they are right now!"

Everyone ducked when a gunshot rang out from behind the gathered group.

When Sawyer came out of the bushes with a rifle slung over his shoulder, Jane wasn't sure who she wanted to maul more- Locke for apparently taking them and putting them in Sawyer's care instead of her or the other cop's care, or Sawyer for taking impending advantage of it.

"You gave him the guns?" Jack demanded.

"No…" Locke replied, and Jane was only slightly relieved that he sounded genuinely confused and worried. "… I hid them."

"That's right, Jack. He's as stupid as you are!" Sawyer called. He stopped in front of Jane and leaned towards her- not to address her, but to indicate some sort of grouping.

She didn't like where this was going at all. She sent Jack a pleading look to stop him or get her away somehow, but Jack just shook his head subtly, not knowing what to do.

Sawyer continued. "You two were too busy worrying about each other you never saw me coming didja?"  
>He turned his attention to the crowd. "How about you listen up? 'Cause I'm only gonna say this took my stuff. When I was off trying to get us help- get us rescued, you found my stash, and you took it- divvied it up. My shaving cream, my batteries, and my beer. Then something else happened. You decided these two boys here were gonna tell you what to do and when to do it. Well, I'm done taking orders. I don't want my stuff back. Shaving cream don't matter. Batteries don't matter. The only thing that matters now are guns." He held up the gun.<p>

Jane glanced down at his knees, trying to figure out how long it would take to bring him down, pin him, and get the gun away. There was no way this was ending well.

"… And if you want one, you're gonna have to come to me to get it!" His eyes fell on Sayid. "You wanna torture me, don't ya?" He mocked. "Show everyone how civilized you are!" He tossed his free hand out. "Go ahead. But I'll die before I give them back. Then you'll really be screwed, won't ya?" He smirked and looked towards the crowd again. "New sheriff in town, Boys." Jane tried not to let the whimper that was clenched behind her teeth out when he rested his elbow on her shoulder. She squirmed away as much as possible. "This here's my deputy. You best get used to it. You have problems, can't get to me- you go to her." He instructed. He started walking back to the tent, and the crowd parted for him.

Jane waited a few seconds as the crowd dispersed before heading after him. She was Hell bent on giving her a piece of her mind- and beating him up in the process. She let out a growl of protest when Jack caught her around th waist and picked her up to stop her.

"Beyond not worth it, Jane! Don't! All of us know you're not sold on the idea. We trust you, not him!" He muttered.

"I'm gonna kill him- I'm gonna KILL him!" Jane thrashed against him.

"We all want to. Just give it a rest. You and Gabby stay with Rose and Bernard, or Hurley or someone. Just… stay away from him, okay?" He set her down, still not letting her go.

"Why?" Jane demanded.

"Because I'd feel better and I wouldn't worry he'd try to hurt you with the power trip he's going on right now!" Jack replied. "So please, just listen to me. You listened with the last Toni thing. Do it now."

Jane sighed, rubbed her face, then nodded. "Fine. Fine. No promises I won't try tomorrow, though."

Jack laughed, then sighed. "Tomorrow I'll give enough of a damn to stop you more than I am now." He kissed her forehead. Refusing to let a moment that would probably go uninterrupted, he kissed her on the lips once, then again.

He pulled back and offered a small smile. "Go on. I'll tell Gabby to find you. Night."

"Night," Jane offered, trying not to sound too high-pitched in order to hide the teenage version of herself that was jumping up and down squealing in her head. She turned to find Rose and Bernard's tent. Once she did, she patted on the flap. "Rose, Bernard? You here? Sorry if I'm waking you up."

Rose pulled back the flap and smiled. "No, Honey. You're fine. What's wrong?"

"Um, after… that whole thing, can… can Gabby and I stay in here for the night? You guys have the room, and we don't really want to-"

"Come on in, Jane. I wouldn't want you girls staying with that man anyhow. How do you stand him?" Rose asked.

"I've asked myself that at least seven times today, Rose." She replied as she walked in. She waved a greeting at Bernard, and thanked Rose when the woman offered her a couple of blankets to lay on. She set them up, and let herself collapse onto them a moment later. Peace and quiet, at last. She tensed for a moment, waiting for something to go wrong, but when nothing happened for two minutes, she relaxed. It was about damn time she got a break.


	11. Pity

"Hey, Copper, can we talk?"

It had barely been eight hours since Sawyer had made his speech. Jack had called for an early morning for everyone, in order to keep an eye on things- one of those things just happened to be the conman, but that was beside the point. Jane's anger towards the southerner had doubled by the hour up until then, so Jane had no issue throwing herself out of Bernard and Rose's tent, grabbing Sawyer by the collar, and slamming him up against the tree next to them.

"Well, there's my latest Christmas wish." Sawyer begun.

"Shut. Up. Don't talk to me. You know how many dirty looks I'm getting because of your stupidity last night? People honestly think we planned that spiel out together. I'm a cop. I carry one gun. One is enough. I don't need all the stress with handling the rest, and now I have people 'cutting the line' and asking you for a gun through me. I'm already done. Your next speech better entail that I have nothing to do with you, or I will kick you where the sun don't shine so hard that you'll vomit up your di-"

"Jane, honey? Everything okay?" Rose asked, coming out of the tent. Her tone implied she already knew that it clearly wasn't, and she probably had the idea of who was on the receiving end. However, she still pulled a sour face upon seeing Sawyer. "Oh,"

Sawyer scoffed. "Howdy, Ma." He greeted, then turned back to Jane. "I was comin' to talk to you about finding a better spot to hide the guns, being that you and the Doc seemed to explore a lot during your little adventures…"

"He was helping me look for my sister, you ass. You did it too."

"Sure didn't end the way it did with you and the Doc."

"Because unlike you, Jack is tolerable one hundred percent of the time. You… I can't even decide if I can call you a friend or not. You save my life, you help me, you're there for me, and then you do something that'll make everyone hate and fear you, and you drag me onto your side when I'm clearly not."

"I'm not forcin' you on any side, Sister. That's your call. You coulda used your position and shot me last night." Sawyer replied.

"Don't tempt me. And of course I don't have a choice, because now, to prevent more people from dying, I'm stuck protecting you, because I'm the only one who finds your life to be worth something here!" She froze as soon as the words left her mouth. Hell, with the exception of 'stuck' and 'the only who who', she had been in Sawyer's spot, and Kevin had said just about the same thing to her after her captain tried… that the second time, and she had completely shut down. "…Shit!" She muttered. She shoved off of him and darted towards the beach.

Sawyer watched her, then blinked. "The Hell…?" He looked at Rose.

Rose frowned again. "Boy, you wanna start redeeming yourself, even in the slightest? Go chase after that girl. She's right. She is the only one who thinks you're worth something lately. I'd hold onto that." She advised him.

Sawyer growled, then pushed off the tree and headed after her. "Hey, Five-O… Copper!"

Jane turned on him sharply. "My name isn't Copper, or Five-O, or Deputy for that matter! Just leave me the Hell alone!"

"I'm sorry, is that what you're lookin' for?" Sawyer demanded.

"That and a demotion." Jane replied harshly. "What is it with you and wanting to turn people against you- even the people who care about you?"

" 'Cause I'm not anyone worth giving a damn about!" Sawyer snapped.

Jane went to retort, then stopped. Hell, she had considered that answer coming from him, but only in some crazy alternate reality. She didn't expect him to actually say it at all. Much like he had triggered the memory with Kevin, she was brought right back to her 'saving people is my job' mindset she had in college. "… Sawyer, I…"

Sawyer scoffed. "Don't you dare pity me- not when you were screamin' at me ten seconds ago."

Jane paused again, at a loss for words. She spotted movement out of the corner of her eye coming out of the jungle. She turned and walked backwards to be shoulder to shoulder with Sawyer out of sheer habit. She stopped when she realized the person who had just emerged was Sayid, and he had a man hoisted over his shoulders. "Sayid?" She ran over to him, then tried to get a look at the man. It wasn't anyone she had seen yet. "One of ours, or…?"

"No, but we don't know if he's one of the Others, either. Danielle found him in the jungle and shot him- she said he was one of the Others. I brought him here." He explained. "Get Jack." He ordered. "I'm bringing him back to the hatch."

Jane nodded and took off towards the other side with Sawyer at his heels.

"You trust this at all?" Sawyer asked.

"Not at all, but we'll just have to see what happens." Jane replied. She skidded to a halt, ending up three feet too far past Jack's tent. "Jack? You home?" She called.

"What's up?"

Jane turned around, seeing Jack walking over from Claire's tent. She inhaled sharply, then rolled her eyes when Jack glared at Sawyer. "I already yelled at him. Sayid and Danielle found someone in the jungle. We don't know if he's an Other or not. Danielle seems to think he is."

Jack nodded quickly. "Where'd he take him?"

"Hatch,"

Jack headed into the jungle without another word.

Sawyer scoffed. "Well ain't your boyfriend Commander Fix It."

Jane turned to him. "Go away."

Sawyer smirked. "Sweetheart, with our latest arrival, there are gonna be a lot of people that you're gonna have to worry about." He leaned over so his mouth was beside her ear. "And I ain't one of them." He glanced around and spotted Gabriella making her way over to them. He winked at Jane, then wandered off, back to their tent.

Jane rolled her eyes, then finally saw what had caused him to leave. Her sister looked like she was in near hysterics. She frowned when she noticed that A good portion of her sister's clothing was soaking wet from water, too. "… Gabby?"

Gabriella reached her. She opened her mouth, but only a few incoherent syllables came out. After a few more failed attempts to get a sentence out, she dug into her pocket and pulled out a wet piece of paper from her pocket. She held it out to Jane.

Jane took it, then opened it. It was a faded ink drawing of what looked to be one of the rock formations a couple of hundred feet down the beach from their camp. Her stomach flipped when she realized it was Toni-Anne's drawing style. The thing was, they had found that formation after Ethan had taken her. She almost dropped it. "What the Hell is going on?" She demanded.

"How 'missing' is she?" Gabriella asked.

Jane blinked, hearing her sister's tone. She was confused as to why it sounded so accusing. "What're you trying to say, Gabby? It's not like she died. I would've told you that she died!"

"So what aren't you telling me, then?" Gabriella snapped. "When did she go missing? How?"

"Months ago? I don't even remember! Fine, wanna know what I didn't tell you? She went missing because one of the Others you keep hearing about took her. She was part of the group with Claire and Charlie. Now you know why I didn't tell you. Ethan meant to murder Charlie, and he did… something to Claire to the point she lost her memory. It's the facts after that that don 't add up. Her bag, her voice, I've even seen her once or twice, then she disappears for days without a trace!" She shook the drawing. "This just adds to the long list of 'weird.' There's all your information so you don't go accusing me of other shit. I've had enough frustration to last me the rest of my life in the last couple of months. I don't need the sister who I thought was dead adding to it."

Gabriella gawked at her, then looked down. "… Yeah, that's new information."

Jane flinched. "I'm sorry I told you that way. I'm just… in a tough spot right now."

"So I've heard." Gabriella replied. She pulled her sister into a hug. "I'm sorry, too."

Jane sighed and returned it. "You have no idea how much I need one of those right now."

"What, you mean Jack sticking his tongue down your throat wasn't enough?" Gabriella grinned.

Jane shoved her playfully. "Shut up… and there was no tongue."

"Sure, Little Sister. Sure."

* * *

><p>Jane jerked awake that night to what seemed like the camp's wakeup call of the week- Claire screaming. She would've rolled over and let someone else handle it for once, had Claire's choice of words not been 'Get away from us.' "Shit- Claire!" She called. She bolted upright and out of Rose and Bernard's tent, running for Claire's. She didn't at all expect to Sawyer to emerge from his own, whistle to get her attention, then toss her her gun. She figured she would hold off on figuring out why he knew where it was. She drew the gun and pointed it back in the direction of Claire's tent, only to find Kate had beaten her to it- she was just unarmed. Danielle was on Claire's opposite side. "Hey!" She barked.<p>

"What're you doing here? What are you doing here?" Kate demanded.

Jane threw caution to the wind and stood beside Kate, keeping her gun raised slightly.

"Get out of our camp." Kate ordered.

Danielle paused, then nodded and slowly retreated.

Jane kept her eyes on her, making sure she did leave fully. She and Kate seemed to be on the same page, both tense for about two minutes before tending to Claire and Aaron.

Jane looked at Kate. "What happened?"

Kate glanced at her, alarmed she was speaking to her at first, then collected herself. "I don't know much, myself. I got here a few seconds before you did." She explained. She turned to the other woman. "…Claire?... What did she say?"

Claire hesitated. "She said there's something wrong with him." She replied.

Kate and Jane looked at each other. _Now what?_

* * *

><p>"It's just not like him. He always sleeps through the night… and this rash? There's something wrong." Claire insisted to Jack, who had arrived only minutes before.<p>

Jane sighed and tightened the hug she was giving her friend. Hell, she complained about not getting breaks, but she knew Claire definitely had it worse.

"Maybe he's just sick, Claire." Jack tried to assure her.

Claire reached up and held onto Jane's arms, just to feel safer. "… What about the fever, and the cough? And he hasn't been eating at all."

"Claire, he's okay," Jack continued. "It's probably Roseola. It's a typical virus that's common in children his age, and the rash is probably part of it."

"Okay, what if it's not?" Claire asked.

Jane tucked her chin into Claire's shoulder. "Trust him, Claire. It's probably nothing. I'm sure you'd be okay with that if we were home-"

"But we're not home." Claire replied. "What if he caught something really bad, like some kind of infection?"

"Infection? Where did you get that idea?" Jack asked.

"Rousseau was here." Kate replied, walking up behind them.

Jack's eyes flicked to Jane, and she shook her head as if to say 'don't bother, it's okay.' He turned his attention back to Claire. "What did she say to you?"

"She said she knew he was sick, okay? That he's infected." Claire replied.

"Claire, there is no infection." Jack insisted. "We've been on his island for two months, and no one's gotten sick. Rousseau's crazy. We're gonna let the fever run its course. It's gonna be fine, okay? Trust me." He started to gather his things. "I've gotta get back to the hatch. Jane, can you stay with-"

Jane pointed at a few of her things in the far corner of Claire's tent. "Already done."

Jack nodded. "Good. Any big change, you girls find me." He ordered before heading off.

Kate hesitated in the doorway.

Jane looked at her. "I've got her, Kate. Don't worry about it."

Kate frowned, then nodded and turned back around, leaving for her own tent.

There was a long silence, then Claire leaned back into Jane. "You think Aaron's gonna be okay?" She asked.

"Me? Yeah. He's already taken on so much, he's gonna be fine. I trust Jack's word, too. You should do that."

Claire smiled weakly. "I'm trying, it's just the overprotective mother thing, you know? Well, I guess you would to a point."

"Oh, I get it the whole way. When Gabby started out she was crazy about Michelle's health. Cried to me about her first cold over the phone at three in the morning." She added with a smile. "He'll be fine, Claire. Don't you worry." She patted her friend's back. "Now, let me up so we can both get some rest. God knows we all need it."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Jane gladly handed over her Claire's-sister duties to Kate, and spent most of the day helping Jin fish. It didn't work out too well. She managed to only get a few small fish, which only resulted in Jin laughing at her, but motioning at the bucket all the same. When Jin managed to get a foot-long trout, Jane gave up and settled for moving the rest of her things into Claire's tent. Just because Kate had taken over for the day didn't mean she wouldn't play guard dog at night. It was about time she could do some honest policing. What surprised her afterwards was the fact that it suddenly seemed too quiet. She sighed. She knew she would regret the idea, but it was all she had. She went over to her own tent, where Sawyer was reading. "… I don't like you." She announced.<p>

Sawyer arched an eyebrow at her. "What'd I do this time?"

Jane shrugged. "I don't know. It's too quiet all of a sudden, and I'm bored."

"Ah. Your world isn't falling apart and now you need it too, huh?"

"Guess you can say that." Jane lay down next to him, deciding not to bother with berating him when he lifted his feet and used the small of her back as a footrest. There was probably a metaphor with power somewhere in there, but Jane couldn't bring herself to care at that moment.

"Why don't you find the Doc and fool around a bit? Hell, if I had a little Island romance I'd be doin' that all damn day."

"You're an idiot."

"Love you too, Copper." Sawyer replied.

Jane laughed, despite herself, then glanced up when she saw Kate walking over. She looked dead set on talking with Sawyer. "Visitor." She announced.

Kate didn't waste time when she reached them. "I need a gun. You don't get to ask why." She announced.

Sawyer frowned, moved his feet, and put down his book. "Seeing as I'm the one with the guns, I do get to ask why."

Kate frowned, then looked at Jane. "Jane, can I use yours, then?"

"Just because I started talking to you again doesn't mean I trust you. I'm not giving you my gun." Jane replied, as if it was the most obvious thing she had said to the woman.

Kate sighed and returned her attention to Sawyer. "You still don't get to ask."

"Yes I do," Sawyer replied. "Watch. Why?"

"Just give me a gun, Sawyer."

Sawyer smirked, held up the glasses he had taken off moments before. "Check it out. I got a new pair of glasses, damn near my prescription. You like em?"

Kate ran her hand over her face. "Alright, I'm going into the jungle to track down Rousseau.

Sawyer frowned. "The French Chick? What for?"

"Claire thinks she knows where there might be some medicine." Kate replied. "The baby's sick."

Sawyer sat up. "Well Hell, I got medicine-"

"She thinks he's really sick- as in quarantine sick." Kate specified.

Jane pushed herself up so she was kneeling. "What?"

Kate shrugged. "It's bad, apparently. I think she's too worried, but she's going after Rousseau with or without me."

"No boys allowed, huh?" Sawyer asked.

Kate shook her head.

Sawyer sighed. "Alright, what do you want? Nine millimeter or rifle?"

Kate let the ghost of a smile pass on her lips. "… Nine millimeter?"

Sawyer winked, then got up to retrieve the gun.

Jane looked at Kate. "Aaron being taken care of?"

"Claire gave him to Sun." Kate replied. "… Listen, Jane-"

"I thought I was clear I didn't want to talk about that." Jane cut her off at the pass. "You're basically the reason by best friend almost died. Nothing- even anything that happens here, is gonna change that."

Kate frowned, kicked at the ground, and nodded. She waited until Sawyer gave her the gun before turning and looking for Claire.

Sawyer watched her go, then heard Jane sigh heavily. "… You okay?"

Jane laughed sarcastically. "That depends on your definition of okay."

* * *

><p>"It was a bad idea keeping that guy in the hatch…"<p>

Jane arched an eyebrow, hearing Jack's statement. She looked up from her book. "The guy Sayid brought back?"

Jack sat down in the chair beside her. "He's barely down there a day and people are already asking around. Eko is, anyway."

"You didn't expect that?" Jane put her book down.

Jack shrugged. "Hopeful, I guess."

"So, do we know this guy's name?"

"Henry Gale. Ring any bells, by any stretch of the imagination?"

"Not at all." Jane replied.

Jack grunted. "So… what's your theory?"

"I haven't seen the guy conscious, so I can't say much… timing seems to perfect for his arrival- accident or not, though." Jane replied.

"Yeah…" Jack deadpanned. "Sayid seems to think so, too."

"What about you?"

"Leaning toward what you guys are saying, but…"

"You still don't know." Jane finished for him.

"Exactly," Jack nodded. He frowned when he saw Kate and Claire coming out of the jungle. "They're back."

"You go take care of that, then. I'll be fine relaxing here."

Jack gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before making his way over to Claire and Kate.

Jane turned her attention back to her book, and within seconds, the same 'too quiet' feel that she had picked up earlier came back with a vengeance. She hated her subconscious for having trouble deciding which was worse- having nothing happening, or having nonstop events to worry about.


	12. Point Made

**A/N: On top of this quick update, there should be another one later today. Hope you guys enjoy. Thanks for the reviews. Keep em coming. :D  
><strong>

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><p>Jane paced by the door to the hatch, trying to gather herself and remember various interrogation techniques. She hadn't done it in years, and Jack had recruited her to talk to Henry for her history with the police. What could she ask? What hadn't been asked of him, or tortured out of him? Where was he from? No, they had found out Minnesota. She stopped pacing. Well, there was something right there. Minnesota. She had family out there, and her uncle had flown her there for a mini summer vacation a couple of times. She could see just how much he knew about Minnesota, Then again, she wouldn't know much, either. She hadn't been there for years as well. "Shit…" She glanced up when she saw Locke and Ana-Lucia come around the corner.<p>

Locke frowned at her. "… What're you doing here, Jane?"

"Jack asked me to have a turn at interrogating Henry. I'm just trying to work out what to ask and how to ask it. I take you had the same idea with her?" She nodded at Ana.

Locke nodded.

Jane shrugged. "I can go back." She offered.

Locke considered the offer, then shook his head. "No, stay put. Two cops for this might work out to our advantage?"

"What do you mean, good cop, bad cop?" Ana-Lucia asked.

"No. Two against one." Locke replied. "Let's get both of you in there and see what happens." He replied, then walked over to the armory. He entered the combination, and opened the door.

The women stepped forward, and both paused, taking in the man's appearance. Danielle and Sayid combined had done quite the number on him. They walked in, and Locke closed the door behind them..

Henry frowned at them. "Wow. Some gentleman, putting two women in a locked room with a man they think is the enemy." He deadpanned.

"We're tougher than we look." Jane replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, tell us, Mr. Gale. Just how did a balloon crash itself all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?"

Henry eyed her for a while, then shrugged. "How should I know? After a couple of hours, my wife got vertigo. She sat down, I sat with her. We stayed down for ages. Must've drifted too much."

"Where'd you leave from?" Ana-Lucia asked.

"Australia." Henry replied. "… I take you ladies were on the plane, too?"

Jane nodded halfheartedly, and Ana-Lucia specified she was in the tail section that landed across the island. Jane wondered where she was going with the statement.

"You walked across? All the way here?" Henry asked. "… Must've been fun."

"It had it's moments. So, are you gonna tell us your whole story, Henry?"

"Why bother going further? I've told it to everyone- Jack, Locke, the Big Black Guy Who Cut His Beard in Front of Me- Oh, and my buddy Sayid. You can see how much he liked my story." Henry replied.

"We protect our own under any circumstances. Now tell us." Jane insisted.

"I don't mean to be ungrateful ladies, but why are you gonna help me get out of here?" Henry asked.

"Who said anything about getting you out? We're here to get some answers." Jane replied. She went to continue, but Ana-Lucia held up her hand to silence her.

The other woman leaned forward. "On the other side of the Island, there was this guy with us. I was one-hundred percent convinced he wasn't on the plane. So I dug a hole, and I threw him in it."

Jane tried not to look surprised, but she saw Ben seemed as entranced as she was already, finally stopping looking at her to look at Ana.

"And what happened?" Henry asked.

"I was wrong, and now he's dead." Ana replied. "But good news for you, Henry, I don't make the same mistake twice, so how about you tell me your story?"

* * *

><p>"So that's really all there is? You and your wife crash here in a smiley face balloon, then she dies. You get captured by a French chick who brings you here, and then they lock you up." Ana Lmused.<p>

Henry shrugged. "It sounds kind of silly when you say it like that."

"Why don't you have a beard?" Ana asked.

"And why are there no traces of a destroyed hot air balloon anywhere?" Jane asked.

"Because I shaved- because I needed something normal- and how should I know? I would tell you where it was if I could remember how long I walked for if it would help me here." Henry replied.

"Try it. Think about it. Draw us a map to the balloon, you can take us out there, and everyone will believe you." Henry scoffed.

"That's what they all keep asking me to do- draw a map."

"We can't be too careful. I thought we'd have gotten that message across by now. Are you gonna do it, or not?" Jane asked.

"I would if I could remember. How many times do I have to…?" Henry sighed and trailed off. "I want to help myself out and get out of here, I do. I just don't remember. The thing is, if I mess up, they'll crucify me."

"You flew around the world in a balloon, and you don't think you could draw up a good map?" Ana demanded.

"Air travel…" Henry hesitated. "It's a different animal. It's about wind currents, and-"

"Do you or do you not know where it is?" Ana asked.

"… Yeah, I know where it is."

Jane pushed off the wall and frowned. That was out of left field_. Danger, Will Robinson_. "Go on…"

"I went back there to bury my wife." Henry continued.

"Why did you do that?" Ana asked.

"Because that balloon was the closest thing we had to home." Henry replied. He looked at the other two and shook his head. "You people have been looking for someone to punish. Someone to blame, and now you've got it. It doesn't matter what I do. I'm dead already."

Ana leaned back. "You draw up that map, Henry. I'll find your balloon. But if you don't, things are gonna play out just like you said.

Henry's eyes flicked to Jane again. They weren't questioning what she said, they weren't looking to her for help, they were just…. Studying her… again. It gave her the creeps, and she tried to look relaxed to give the impression that wasn't the case. She still didn't know whether he was telling the truth or not, but the way he was looking at her sure sold the idea that he wasn't telling the truth.

The rest of the interrogation left little to wonder about. Henry stuck to his simple story and snapped if they got repetitive. After wearing him down even more, however, Ana did manage to get him to make the map. He still kept up with staring at Jane. By the time Ana decided to call it a day, Jane had been ready to leave for minutes. The two knocked on the door and waited. Ana Lucia muttered to keep the map's existence quiet from Jack and Locke for their own sakes, right before Jack opened the door. The two led the way into the technology room, and once inside, Jane stopped, Jane stopped in her tracks and shook herself. "With all due respect, boys, I'm never doing that again."

Jack frowned. "Why? What happened?"

"He told us the same story he told all of you. What has her off kilter was the fact he kept staring at her like he was sizing her up. Sure, he looked at me a few times, but any chance he got, right to her." Ana replied.

"So? Maybe we can use his interest o our advantage.

"What? No!" Jane snapped. "He wasn't looking at me like a piece of meat, it was like… like…"

"Like a crazy serious boss sizes up his lower-level workers." Ana finished.

Jane blinked. "Not what I was looking for, but that works, too." She nodded.

"Point is, do you believe him?" Locke asked.

"I don't know. I need more time with him." Ana Lucia replied. "Maybe it is better if it's just me."

Locke motioned at the armory door. "When?"

"Tomorrow. I want to give him more time to think." Ana replied. She and Locke left the room, leaving Jack and Jane alone.

Jack looked her up and down. "You okay?"

She shook again. "Guhhh…. I'm gonna need like, three days to get rid of that feeling."

"I'm sure we can give you those." He replied, then held out his arm and nodded towards the exit of the hatch. "Come on. I heard Libby's making lunch."

Jane sighed, ducked under his arm so it rested over her shoulders, and followed him out.

* * *

><p>Jane had just finished talking to Libby when Kate approached her, looking miles away. "Jane, can we talk… alone?"<p>

'Thought it was clear that unless it's Island business or involves Claire, I really don't want to talk to you." Jane replied.

"What if it involved Kevin?" Kate asked.

Libby looked between the women, and judging by the way her newest friend tensed up, knew that this 'Kevin' was a sensitive subject. She gathered her things and went off in search of Hurley.

Jane turned away from Kate. "That's the worst subject you could possibly talk to me about." She shot her down.

Kate scoffed. "Listen, I get it, I do. But you don't understand, I did it all for him- to help him."

"Almost killing him is helping him?" Jane turned to her sharply.

"I thought I was pregnant the day I did that, Jane! What would you prefer- your best friend starting a life and family with a lying murderer, or having the murderer leave him permanently."

"And the fact that you almost killed him goes right over your head again." Jane shook her head. "You disgust me, you really do."

Kate frowned, then saw the outline of a chain just under Jane's shirt collar. "I saw you with the necklace- I see it with you now. It was his mom's. That meant a lot, so clearly you've already replaced me, there. What more do you want?"

"I want you to stay the Hell away from me, Kate, and if we make it home. I never want to see you again, or hear that you made contact with Kevin somehow. He's too good for you. You never deserved him at all."

"I know that. Why do you think I left?" Kate demanded.

"Because I figured you were just saving your worthless ass and didn't care who got hurt in the process." Jane snapped.

Kate looked completely taken aback.

Jane shook her head and turned around, nearly slamming into Sawyer, who had come to spy on the spectacle. She pushed him away and moved around him before he had the chance to come up with a joke.

* * *

><p>Jane looked down at the locket in her palm. She tried not to burst into tears then and there. She missed home. She missed Kevin. She missed her job. She missed her friends. She missed seeing Toni and knowing she was safe. "Kev, what am I gonna do?"<p>

"Hey, Copper. What can I put your gift down on the baby shower list as?"

Jane frowned and looked up at Sawyer. "Say what?"

"Sun's knocked up." Sawyer announced, dropping next to her.

"What? Really?" Jane sat up. She put her necklace back on.

Sawyer watched her, then nodded. "Yeah. She took a pregnancy test not too long ago. We got Mommy and Daddy Korean, now."

"Don't call them that yet. What if something goes wrong?"

Sawyer made a face. "What's up with you? Usually you'd be excstatic and run to congratulate them. It is honestly just Kate that has you worked up?"

"And a bunch of things." Jane replied.

"… You and someone back home or even the Doc didn't do the nasty, didja? We're not dealing with two pregnant chicks, are we?"

"Me? Pregnant? Hell no. Can you drop the whole Jack thing, too? It's not like you haven't done your own share of flirting with anything in a skirt here."

"Touche." Sawyer nodded. "But then again, I ain't doin' monogamy. What's gonna happen when we get back… if we get back?"

"I don't know… guess we'll just have to see… kinda like everything that happens here."

Sawyer grunted in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything. She had a point. She always did.

_… Goddamn it._


	13. It's My Job

**A/N: And here's another chap. You guys honestly may get another one tonight or tomorrow. No promises, but I have nothing to do, and I'm on a roll now. Enjoy. **

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><p>Jane was really starting to hate playing 'Deputy' all over again. What had started off as people asking for guns started turning into asking for anything- guns, meds, magazines, books, and in the latest case, Neosporin that Libby had asked for through Jack. At least Jack had tried to make a joke about asking as opposed to just looking at her expectantly. The request had nearly earned her a spot in a few card games, but when Kate came over, Sawyer shooed Jane away. She was still puzzled about his change of being against her, then for her on a rotating basis. She wasn't at all surprised when Sawyer roped Jack into a game a few minutes later that ended with the meds from the armory as the stakes an hour or so later. She would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy having Hurley encourage her to spy on the game with him, Kate and Libby, though. It got even better when a few other stragglers joined the viewing party.<p>

Sawyer lost the game, and naturally, once Jack left, he threw a fit, kicking everything in a two foot radius. When he turned and spotted the crowd, looking murderous, the onlookers made it their job to disperse.

The next morning, Jane woke to someone shaking her, followed by swatting her behind. She knew who it was from the last action alone, and she threw out her arm in a halfhearted swing at his knees. "Go away, Sawyer."

"The Doc and the others found somethin'- somebody musta sent down a parachute with food and stuff a while back. They came across it last night. Come on."

Jane sat up, then straightened out the collar of her tank top, noticing Sawyer's eyes wandering. She started to blink the sleep out of her eyes. "What?"

Sawyer groaned, grabbed her hands, and yanked her upright. He started to drag her into the jungle behind three other survivors who were murmuring to each arrived at the drop site, and sure enough, there was a net full of food smack dab in the middle. Jane picked up one of the cans- pears, apparently, and looked at Sawyer. "Where'd you think…?"

"No idea," Sawyer replied, then glanced over when a few sets of their people started yelling at each other over the food. "Hey, hey, hey, can we get some order around here?"

Charlie, who was directly in front of them, looked up at him. "Shouldn't we let someone a little more trustworthy take care of this?"

Sawyer motioned at Jane. "Five-O, wanna take over?"

"With this? I value my life, thanks." Jane replied.

Sawyer shrugged. "Then what about you, Baby-Napper?"

"No, like Hurley. Why not Hurley? He's done it before." Charlie replied.

"No! No way!" Hurley called from somewhere behind him. Everyone turned to look at him, surprised at his raised voice. "Not me, not again, no!"

Libby nodded. "Okay, guys, guys, how about no one's in charge, okay? I'm sure everyone can manage to just take what they need."

Sawyer tossed his hands out. "Great plan, Moonbeam, and after that we can sing Kumbaya and do trust falls."

Jane grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back. "Down, boy. You made your point."

Libby's plan seemed to follow through. The survivors started trading among each other, and some left with their share moments later. Jane and Sawyer both took as much as they could and headed back to the beach. Sharing a box of cookies and making bets on which of the survivors were going to get sick from the food hadn't been on their of their agendas, but they ended up doing just that for an hour. Jane laughed when Sawyer had broken his fifth cookie, trying to get to the icing first. "You're such a tool."

"Let's see you do it, then." Sawyer snapped.

"You gotta twist it, dude."

The pair glanced over as Hurley approached them. "… To get the frosting. Pulling it will only break your cookie." He finished.

"Well, that's what I get for not going to the expert in the first place." He offered the remnants of the cookie to Jane, and she shrugged and took it.

"So what's new, Hurl?" Jane asked.

"Nothin'. Just glad I'm not the one who has to deal with the food situation. It's gone already. That didn't take long."

"We were running out at the hatch. People are hungry for food we coulda had back home- granted, that's not as old as this, probably, but…"

"Yeah…" Hurley nodded slowly.

Sawyer leaned back. "Alright, why are you really here, Deep Dish?"

"Sawyer!" Jane smacked his arm.

"What? It's not like he's not used to it by now!" Sawyer argued.

"Well, I'm looking for something…" Hurley replied.

Sawyer laughed. "Forget it, I'm done trading. I've got enough food now to open a chain of mini-marts." He replied. "… Hey, you think Sayid needs a job."

"Well, actually, I was sorta hoping you could do me a favor." Hurley began, though he looked like he was regretting his decision. "Remember when I helped you out with the tree frog?"

Sawyer rose to his feet.

"… That you killed…" Hurley added under his breath.

"Yeah, I remember." Sawyer nodded.

"Well, I sorta need some medicine…" Hurley explained.

It was Jane's turn to frown and stand up. "Is everything okay? What's wrong?"

"What do you need?" Sawyer added.

Hurley sighed. "It's called Clonazepam." Hurley replied.

"Clonaze what? What the Hell's that?" Sawyer asked.

"So you can calm down." Hurley replied.

Jane stepped forward. "Calm down…? What's wrong, Hurley? Don't laugh, and I'm sorry if you take this the wrong way, but… too much food? Too much sugar, maybe?"

Hurley shook his head. "No, nothing like that… it's for when you're… seeing things that aren't supposed to be there." He said.

"Hurley, sit down. Talk to us- talk to me." Jane insisted, pulling him over to her seat and pushing him into it.

"What're you seein'?" Sawyer asked.

"… I don't know." Hurley replied. "Maybe like a bald guy in a bathrobe."

Sawyer waited a moment, then pointed off to the left. "You mean like that guy there?"

Hurley turned sharply, only to find that the spot Sawyer had pointed to was empty.

When Jane saw it was empty, she pushed Sawyer's hip, causing the man to stumble. "Asshat." She muttered.

Sawyer laughed all the same. "Gotcha both."

Jane shook her head and promptly slapped her hand to his face. Every damn time… She stopped and let her hand drop when there was a loud rustling, followed by a thud and Hurley screaming. The sand under her chair shifted a bit, and there was a sudden gust of wind from behind her. She pulled her hand away. "The Hell…?" She barely had a second to wonder what was going on, because as she turned around, her eyes fell right on Sawyer, on the ground with Hurley on top of him, smacking his face. She opened her mouth, and all that came out was a squeak. She didn't want to get near ordeal with a twenty foot pole, but here she was, about five feet away from the struggle. She scrambled back, watching it go down. Sawyer and Hurley disappeared under the tarp. A moment later, Sawyer clawed his way out and tried to call for someone, only to get dragged back. Jane turned towards the others to see if they had noticed. Most of them were watching and laughing- Hell, even Jin was laughing. A moment later, Jin ran over and pulled Hurley off and away from Sawyer. Flashing back to the first fight she had encountered on the island, Jane grabbed Sawyer from under his armpits and yanked him back, with him kicking all the way.

"What the Hell is the matter with you? You're crazy!" Sawyer screamed.

"I'm not crazy!" Hurley yelled back.

Jane sighed, and managed to steer Sawyer away, heading for the medical tent. "It's done, take it easy, I'll take care of you."

"Some job you did of that ten seconds ago." Sawyer snapped, but let her lead him anyway.

"You think I was gonna get involved in that? It would've ended the same way Michael and Jin's fight did." They made it to the tent and she sat him down, getting a wet cloth to wipe some of the blood he had on his face off. "It's not too bad. Not much blood. I'm sure there'll be bruises, though."

"Golly gee, I didn't even think about that." Sawyer muttered sarcastically.

Jane rolled her eyes, then tugged on his shirt to adjust it.

Sawyer frowned. "The Hell you doin'?"

"Making it look less like you got your ass handed to you. You want people to come with a commentary on what they just saw?" She rolled up his sleeves, holding onto them tighter when he tried to smack her hands away, complaining that he wasn't six years old. "Sometimes you act like it. You're not the kind of person who appreciates questioning, aren't you? You really want the Doc to interrogate you about why Hurley just… mauled you like a freaking bear?"

"Good, 'mauled like a bear' sounds like you're on my side. Keep that up."

"You messed with a guy who just told us he was seeing things. You expected him to be okay with it?"

"I didn't expect him to tackle me and wreck our tent."

"You're lucky he didn't wreck your neck or spinal cord, the way he took you down like that, Sawyer." Jane insisted, getting the last of the blood off his face.

"He's crazy."

"Let's not go there, with the way he reacted with that, okay, please? I told you the other day I have enough on my plate to worry about. I can't go protecting your ass again and making things worse."

"I'm not asking you to." Sawyer replied.

"Well, being that everyone but you seems to have someone watching their back, I kinda made it my job since day one… neither of us have to like it, but it's worked so far, so that's what I'm gonna do."

Sawyer rolled his eyes. "You gonna help me fend off the gossip hounds, then?"

"That's all you, Babe. I'm gonna go check on Claire. Try not to get into any more fights."

"I'll Try, Angel on M' Shoulder."

Jane laughed, then got up and headed for Claire's tent. She saw Hurley a few feet from there. "Hey, Hurl. You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for… trying to stop him. Too bad it didn't last."

"Yeah…" She reached up and patted his cheek. "Good for you, standing up for yourself, though."

Hurley smiled. "How come you're so nice to everyone?"

" 'Because I'm used to having all creeps around me, Hurl. All the good people with a couple of exceptions around here are a blessing in disguise, as far as I'm concerned."

"Really?" Hurley asked.

"Yeah, why?" Jane replied.

"… Not many would call this place a blessing, that's all." Hurley replied.

Jane chuckled and shrugged. "Guess I'm just a special case, then." She replied,

Hurley nodded after a moment. "Well, I've got somewhere to be, so…"

Jane patted his arm. "Alright. Get going. I need to see Claire, anyway."

Hurley waved, then went into the jungle.

Jane made it over to Claire's tent, greeting her friend before picking Aaron up out of his crib. "Hey baby, hi!" She cooed, then frowned. "… He's burning up again…" She pointed out.

"He's getting worse." Claire responded. "See, I told you. Something's wrong, even with that vaccine." She sighed. "Jane, I'm scared…"

Jane looked over her friend, then held Aaron tighter. "We'll figure this out, Claire. I promise you that. Aaron will come out fine. I don't know when, but… we'll handle it." When Claire looked away, Jane shifted Aaron into one arm, and used the other to touch her friend's shoulder under she looked at her. "Claire, we'll figure this out. We just need time, and we need you to trust us."

"I do, I do!" Claire objected. "It's just hard, you know?"

Jane nodded. "Yeah, I understand." She deadpanned, then looked down at Aaron. She started humming "Catch a Falling Star", completely missing Claire look uneasy upon recognizing the song.


	14. Awaken

**A/N: And like I said, here's another chap, for… S.O.S, Two For the Road, and ? . … This fic is probably gonna be shorter than I thought. ARGH. Anwyays, hope you enjoyed three updates in a day. It probably won't happen ever again- I have four minutes to spare to call it three in a day, as it is. No more updates for at least a couple of days after this , woo. **

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><p>Jane sighed, trying to sort out everything Jack had just told her. "So, let me get this straight. You're going into the jungle to talk to the guy that had me at gunpoint back a while to see if you can make a trade- Henry for Walt, and you're telling <em>me<em> to get a gun and stay put?" Jane replied.

Jack nodded. "Look, I know it's out there, but you and Ana said it. He looked at you funny. I'm not being possessive or anything, but with his theory about the trade, how he acted with you, and the fact that he told us he's one of Them, I'm not taking any chances. You're safe around here with Sawyer." He paused. "I can't believe I just said that."

"You're gonna need someone who can handle a gun properly who isn't gonna shoot someone by accident because they fear the worst." Jane insisted. "I'm fine, Kate's with me, she's okay with guns."

Jane sighed. "Oh, great. You're alone with my favorite survivor. Are you-" She just about growled when he leaned down and kissed her. "… I hate guys that do that. Never pegged you for one of them."

"Yeah, well, part of that's been established already, and I'll keep the other half in mind. We'll be back by tonight, okay? If we're not, then you can start worrying."

"Great to hear." Jane rolled her eyes.

Jack laughed. "Just keep an eye on things, don't go near the hatch, and stay close to Sawyer, Sayid and the others."

"Will do," She mock saluted him.

He went on his way, and Jane resumed helping Sawyer repair their tent. They moved the tarp back a bit this time to have more room- less chance of trying to kill each other on a bad day, as Sawyer put it. They added various leaves for added protection against the weather. By nightfall, they had finished up the last few cookies from the box from earlier, along with a six pack of beer while trading 'best stories from their side of the law.' Sawyer had called it a party when Vincent joined them. Jane was reduced to giggles when Sawyer attempted to eat a piece of fruit and Vincent kept going after it, leaving Sawyer little choice but to fork it over to the dog.

When the early hours of the morning rolled around, Jack and Kate stumbled out of the jungle- with Michael half-conscious between them, no less.

By morning, Jane had followed Jack's instructions. She was worried as Hell that they hadn't gotten back. She was contemplating asking Sawyer to take a trek out into the jungle to find them. When she spotted Jack walk into camp, Jane darted over to him, giving him the tightest hug she could muster. "Holy shit, you're okay. Next time give yourself a three hour window and add that to the time you're gonna be back when you tell people!" She ordered, losing the sound of Sawyer's scoff in the background to the ocean waves.

Jack nodded and patted her back. "Right. Next time. Uh huh. We need to talk. Michael's back."

Jane let him go. "…What?"

"Just letting you know since things are gonna be crazy again. You're back in the lead 'til Mike's awake and we get him squared away. We're going back out again to see if we can contact the Others since we didn't this time. Michael distracted us." He sighed. "We need guns, too. Where's Sawyer?"

Jane looked around. "Wasn't he just… " She found his spot vacant. "Uh… I don't know."

Jack nodded. "Okay then, did he tell you where the guns were, by any chance?"

"No, not at all. Look, there's still a little crate in my tent and in the hatch, though." She went into her tent to find the little crate, only to find it empty. "…Damn it, Sawyer!" She snapped. She looked up at Jack, Kate and Locke. "… Hatch time, let's go." She grabbed her own gun from under her pillow that had oddly been left, and led the way to the jungle.

* * *

><p>Halfway to the hatch, Sawyer met up with them, asking if they had seen Ana-Lucia. The others didn't do much other then mumble no's, then explain that they were headed to the hatch to get the guns, since Sawyer hadn't been there to show them the stash closer to home. It was meant to defer the Southerner, but Sawyer just shrugged it off, satisfied his hiding spot was still intact. He walked with them, asking for a gun, because apparently, Ana had taken his a few minutes before.<p>

When the group reached he hatch, the last thing they expected was to see Michael stumbling out of the hatch, holding his arm. It looked like It was bleeding.

"Mike?" They all called, running over to him.

"He shot me- he's gone, he ran out!" Michael yelled.

"Who?" Jack demanded.

"You have to ask?" Jane returned, checking Michael's shoulder. "Christ, Michael, how close was he?"

"Too close." Michael returned.

Jack ordered Jane, Kate and Locke to go into the hatch. They obeyed without a second thought. The sight that came to them was one that chilled them to the bone. Ana was hunched over on the couch, undoubtebly dead with a bulletwound in her stomach. Jane managed to shake that off, feeling that it was a small loss. However, when she spotted Libby on the floor in a near identical situation to Ana, all bets were off. "Libby? Libby, no!" She ran over and knelt beside the woman, checking for any form of a pulse. When she didn't find anything, she let out a broken "No…" again. She hadn't known Libby much, but they had always been friendly to each other. She knew Libby didn't deserve to die like this. She looked up. "Is Ana…?"

"She's gone, too." Kate reported.

Jack entered, and a moment later, Jane jumped in alarm when Libby jerked upright and coughed up blood. "LIBBY!"

Sawyer nudged her aside so he could carry Libby into the back room, as Jack instructed. The next few minutes went as slow as hours for everyone. They got Libby settled in the back and went for cleaning her up, all the while trying to maintain the wound.

"Can you do anything…?" Kate asked after Jack was silent for a while.

Jane, who was outside with Sawyer and Michael to stay out of the way, still heard the question. She didn't like that Jack only gave Kate another order as opposed to answering her question. She looked up at Sawyer, and he looked down at her. She let out a weak sigh when Sawyer squeezed her shoulder, offering all the comfort he could given the situation. She looked up at Jack when he entered the room.

"How is she?" Michael asked.

"Don't know. How long ago did it happen?" Jack asked.

"Twenty minutes, a half hour ago? I don't know." Michael replied.

"We can pick up the trail, catch up to him." Jack pointed out.

Sawyer's head shot up. "The man's got a head start, a gun, and he ain't afraid of using-"

"He shot three of our people- one of them is dead, and one is-"

"Who's gonna take care of Libby when you're off playing Daniel Boone?" Sawyer demanded.

Jack shrugged. "Jane's qualified-"

"With suspects' bullet wounds that aren't fatal, Jack, I'm with Sawyer on this one." She replied.

Jack stared at her and swallowed hard, trying to decide what to do, when Eko approached them. "I will go." He offered. "John, you have tracking experience, yes?"

Locke nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

"We will find his trail together."

Jack looked between them. "If you find anything- anything, you come right back here, and we figure out what we're gonna do next together." He ordered.

Eko nodded, then looked at Locke. "Let's go, John."

* * *

><p>Jane sighed and curled in on herself after another few minutes of what seemed like absolutely no progress. "Jack… anything?"<p>

"Nothing at all." Jack replied.

Jane nodded. "I'm gonna get some air, then… I'm sorry…"

Jack shook his head. "No, go." He turned to Sawyer. "Stay with her?" He asked.

Sawyer nodded and followed her out. Once they reached the jungle, Sawyer turned to her. "Hey, you okay?"

"No, Sawyer. No I'm not. Three of us almost died today because that creep got away, and… I just… it scared me."

"No one's saying you shouldn't be scared…"

"I know, it's just…" She shook her head. "Just… how could this happen…?"

"Holy shit…"

"Exactly…"

"Um, no, Jane…" Sawyer began.

Jane turned to him, and he looked from her, then pointed to the left, behind her.

Jane turned sharply, and her heart just about stopped. Toni-Anne was standing right there, no more than ten feet away. "TONI?" Her breath caught in her throat at the sight in front of her. After everything, this just wasn't fair. Things had to come crashing down even more, after this. "…Toni?" She repeated.

Toni squirmed, but stayed put. "Jane, I need you to listen carefully…"

Jane opened her mouth to reply, but turned sharply when she heard something swosh through the air, then Sawyer grunted in pain. She let out a yelp when she saw him crumple to the ground. Two men were behind them, and one was holding a club. "What…?" She only ended up shrieking, being that two strong arms came up and around her. She turned again, more to fight them or get away. She looked at Toni-Anne, out of fear for her sister, but her sister seemed okay- no one was going after her. In fact, she was looking at Jane with something that was undoubtedly regret. Her trail of thought was cut short when she felt a cloth was pressed to her mouth and nose hard. She fought harder when she recognized the smell. _Chloroform. Get away, get away, get away._ She realized she had started fighting moments too late, because as her world started to go black. The last thing she saw was Toni, looking more like she was waiting for the chloroform's effect to sink in rather than be worried about her sister. Some way to go out.

* * *

><p>"Sawyer? Sawyer! Wake up, damn it!"<p>

Sawyer grunted and sat up upon hearing Jack's voice. He froze when he realized it was morning, and then the last few seconds of the last time he was conscious came flooding back. "Copper?" He looked around. "Doc, there was some… I don't even know… ambush, if you could call it that…"

"Sawyer, where's Jane? What happened?" Jack demanded.

"I don't… Toni was here, Jack. She just showed up, said that she needed to talk to Jane, next thing you know a couple of guys- Others, I'll be damn sure- came outta nowhere and got the jump on me… here I am."

"And Jane's gone." Jack added. He glared at Sawyer, but part of him did feel guilty when the man honestly looked worried a moment later. "Great. Now we have three shot, one dead, one dying, and one missing." He sighed. "We need to get a search party going, then."

"I'm on it. Get back to Libby. I take you only came out when we didn't come back after while?" Sawyer asked, rubbing his neck.

Jack nodded.

Sawyer motioned at the hatch. "Then go. She needs you. I'll call in the cavalry."

Jack knew better than to argue at that point. "You gonna be okay on your own back to the beach?"

"I'll be fine." Sawyer replied.

Jack hesitated, then glanced down the path he should tale. "Be careful."

"You too, Doc." Sawyer replied before heading back towards the beach.

LOST LOST LOST LOST LOST

Jane let out a moan of pain as she came to. She tried to push herself upright, but found the act was difficult to do for some reason. She opened her eyes slowly and found that her wrists and feet were bound. "What the Hell…?" She looked around. She wasn't in the jungle anymore. She was in a beaten down room, on what looked like a metal slab- one someone would find in an emergency room. Panic started to set in. Where was she? Where had those bastards taken her? What was going on? She tried to get up again, but the chloroform seemed to come back to her, and a moment later, she felt vomit rise in her throat. She panicked even more when a trash can came out of what seemed like nowhere just in time to avoid a mess.

"Let it out. That stuff needs to get out of your system, fast."

Jane didn't bother looking up at first. That wasn't Henry's voice- or it didn't sound like anything Henry's voice could've faked- or been faked from. That was a start. She waited until she was confident she was done retching to roll back over and get a look at her companion who was now sitting on the counter across from her.

It was a middle-aged man, probably no older than forty. He had slicked back black hair, tanned skin, and deep brown eyes. He wore a red button down shirt, black slacks, and what looked like dress shoes. If he was an Other, that would definitely throw off everyone's definition of what to watch out for. "… Where's my sister?" She muttered. "Where's… Toni?"

"She's outside. I'll let her in here shortly. I'm sorry about how they went about this. It wasn't supposed to go this way."

Jane scoffed. "Define 'it.'"

"Getting you here to help us." He replied.

"Why should I help the people who tried to kill my friends?" Jane demanded.

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice, Jane."

Jane flinched. Of course this guy knew her name. Why wouldn't he, with all this going on. "… Who are you?"

The man slid off the counter. "My name is Richard Alpert… and we have a lot to talk about."


	15. Revelations

**A/N: Just letting you know I made another youtube vid for this series. It's not a trailer, but just a... companion for around what would be season 1 and 2. I fully admit it's kind of a self-parody for it: watch? v = yKYg5b5PlVM . Drop the spaces, put a slash after com, and you'll have it. 90s kids will appreciate it most. **

* * *

><p>Sawyer entered the hatch and stopped when he reached Jack, Kate, Michael, and Hurley. The four of them looked at him expectantly and he shook his head. "Nothin'. Not a damn trace anywhere." He deadpanned. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked away. "This is unbelievable…"<p>

Jack shook his head. "Are you sure it was Toni that came up and not someone who just looked like her…?"

Sawyer scoffed. "What kind of question is that, Doc? Of course it was! We were both floored before that turned literal for me, and now she's gone."

Jack frowned. "I'm just trying to get all the facts, man."

"No you're not. You're lookin' for someone to blame that your girlfriend got snatched-"

Jack pushed off the wall he was leaning on. "What? How dare you? That's just one of the issues here, I don't need you-"

"SHUT UP!"

The others snapped their heads in Hurley's direction, not at all expecting the outburst.

Hurley glared at the pair of them. "Stop fighting for once! If Jane was here, she wouldn't want you two doing this! You know what? I think she's alive. You know who's not? Libby and Ana-Lucia… and we haven't even buried them yet!" He objected.

Jack slowly walked over to him, then put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Me and you will take Libby, okay?" He suggested softly.

Hurley said nothing for a while. He headed into the other room to get Libby's body.

Jack looked at Kate. "Can you…?"

"Yeah… of course…" Kate nodded, going to help Hurley.

Jack waited for Kate to leave, then glanced at Michael before sighing. He looked at Sawyer. "Sawyer, I know it wasn't your fault. It's no one's fault. Hell, I asked you to walk out with her."

"I still failed her, Doc -the only damn person who's ever given me a damn chance. I was her backup if something went wrong, and I went down first. I could've at least tried to last a bit-"

"They got the jump on you. There was nothing you could've done…" Jack pointed out.

Sawyer flinched. "Doc, I'm asking you just this once, nicely… to please, just… stop talkin'." He muttered.

Jack frowned, but nodded, only to pause. "Can you get…?"

Sawyer nodded. "Yeah…" he sighed before joining the others in the back room.

Jack sighed, then looked at Michael. "You okay?"

Michael nodded.

Jack shook his head. "I hope Henry has an idea what's coming, because with everything that's happen, he's not gonna know what hit him when we give it back to him." He muttered. He looked at Michael. "Stay here." He ordered before joining the others.

* * *

><p>Jane stared blankly at the glass of water Richard was holding out to her. She exhaled sharply and looked away.<p>

Richard sighed and put it on the table beside her. "Jane, I'm trying to help you. You probably think it's drugged. I get that. The thing is, we need you. We wouldn't add another drug to the one we're trying to get out of your system."

Jane glared at him. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because I'm one of the few you can trust here." Richard replied, not missing a beat.

Jane leaned back. "What do you want from me? What's the 'job'?"

" … My boss likes you. He thinks you're a better cop than the other two around. We need you to… run security for us, so to speak." Richard replied.

Jane stared at him, then laughed. "… Run security for you. Right. Give me one good reason to. I just told you- you tried to kill my friends. You succeeded with one, another probably died when I was getting grabbed, one came damn close to dying. You took my sister, and you took Claire. You let Claire go, but not my sister. Do you honestly expect me to work for you with no qualms?"

Richard arched an eyebrow. "Like I just told you, I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice, Jane."

Jane sat up sharply, and was overcome by dizziness for her trouble. She rocked to the side, and Richard bolted forward and grabbed her arms to steady her. "Easy…"

She shoved him away. "Get off me…" She leaned forward. "Christ, how much chloroform was on that thing…?"

Richard let go, but gave her a sympathetic look. "Danny tends to… not think things through with that. He just does what Ben asks and makes sure it's done fast."

"Good for Ben. Now, show me my sister."

"I was asked to get an answer before I did that."

"My answer to that usually ends up being 'screw you.'" Jane countered.

"Yes, so Ethan and your sister told us."

"What?" Jane demanded.

Richard looked her over and sighed. "Have you ever heard of Charles Widmore, Jane?"

"Stop saying my name like I'm eight. Isn't that guy some… I don't know, big… science tycoon?" She asked.

"You could say that, but he's so much more." Richard replied.

"Well, good for him. I didn't pay much attention to that stuff back home. I was too busy catching people like you."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that, Jane, because Widmore is far worse than us."

Jane turned her head towards the new voice- a familiar voice. Sure enough, there was Henry, in the doorway, looking at her like he had looked at Ana-Lucia hours before- when he was still imprisoned. "You!" She hissed and got up, making a move for the man. She was relieved that her legs didn't give way, so she had a chance at getting to him- until Richard caught her around the shoulders again. "Let me go! He said he was- spy- goddamn rat bastard!" She fought against him.

Henry sighed dramatically. "Jane. Jane, Jane, Jane. Don't go thinking I don't understand your anger."

"Then come over here so I can kill you and return the favor for killing my friends!" Jane screamed.

Henry made a face. "Friends? Yes, Libby was one, but it didn't seem like you and Ana-Lucia had quite the friendship. You seemed to dislike her as much as you don't like Kate."

"Doesn't matter being that they were one of us and you murdered them!" Jane snapped.

Henry mock gasped. "Me? That wasn't me. You may want to do some research on who you can accuse before you let your paranoia get the best of you."

Jane glared at him. "What research would I need? You escaped, Michael got shot, and now Libby and Ana are dead. Seems pretty simple to me."

"A little convenient, how _I_ got Libby and Ana-Lucia with a kill shot and only got Michael with a shoulder shot, isn't it?" Henry asked.

Jane frowned. _What the Hell was that supposed to mean?_

Henry smirked. "You know, it's amazing what a father would do for his son…"

Jane's stomach clenched. She didn't like where this was headed. She saw Henry look at Richard, and Richard got up, then left the room. Her dread doubled. Now she was alone with this… creep. Sure, she didn't trust Richard, but at least he seemed like he was being honest about not hurting her. Henry, on the other hand, who knew. She inched behind the table to have something between them. "What the Hell are you getting at, Henry?"

"My name isn't Henry, first of all. My name is Benjamin Linus."

"Why am I not surprised it was a fake name?" Jane asked rhetorically.

Ben smirked, then let out a half mocking, half genuine chuckle. "You're smart, Jane, and you've been around people like me plenty. Point is… it's a little odd how your dear friend Michael went missing for a few days after trapping Jack in an armory to look for his son, then came back unharmed and empty handed, don't you think?"

Jane tensed up again. She definitely didn't like the situation. Everything screamed at her not to trust Henry- Ben, whatever his name was, but at the same time, the factors he was presenting did seem to fall into place too well. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I think it's fair that you should know all the facts before I present the catch in your… employment." Ben replied.

Jane scowled. "What the Hell does that mean?" She demanded.

Ben looked behind him when Richard opened the door. Jane followed his gaze, then her heart just about stopped when she took in the sight to behold. Richard walked through the door- guiding Walt in behind him. "WALT?" She shrieked.

Walt went wide-eyed, seeing her. "Ms. Payton!" He called before darting over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing as close to her as he could. He looked back at the two men with fear evident in his eyes.

Jane put her arm around his shoulders protectively and glared at the men.

Ben looked from the boy to her. "This all connects to you because we have a man ready to bring your three favorite fellow survivors shortly, and the one that you hate. We'll have Jack, James, Hugo and Kate in our… _custody_ soon."

Jane had a sickening feeling he wasn't just playing with her this time. "… You're an idiot if you think we won't be prepared for an attack. We've learned with your latest spies."

"Oh, this one won't be caught, I assure you." Ben replied.

Jane scowled. "What the Hell does that mean?"

Ben frowned. "You really haven't put it all together yet?" Her silence was enough of an answer. "Like I said, it's amazing what a father would do for his son."

Jane kept glaring, until it all seemed to fall into place. Mentioning Michael's reappearance. Having Walt here. Walt's timing. Describing the difference between the kill shots and shoulder shots. _No, no, no._

Ben nodded, catching the fear in her eyes. "Michael came across us… we offered him a little deal. Getting Jack, James and Kate here… in exchange for Walt and a safe voyage home." He looked at the boy, then her again. "He didn't argue. Hell, continuously baiting you with your sister was enough getting you here."

When she felt Walt press against her again, she tightened her grip on him. "What does this have to do with me and working security for you?"

Ben looked at her, and all the emotion dropped from his features. "Because if you don't do as we ask, we'll kill your friends. We'll have you watch when we start with Hurley, then Jack and Sawyer, and then you can leave when we kill Kate."

Jane froze, and tried not to let too much fear show, but she knew that was a tall order. The man was insane. It was as simple as that. He was insane, and he was serious, and freaking Michael was about to stab her friends in the back. It took all she had not to vomit right there.

Ben nodded. "We'll let you think it over." He turned to leave. The bastard.

Jane contemplating using all the emotions going through her into throwing an overly strong punch his way, but he and Richard had made it out of the room by the time she had even regained motor functions. She threw herself at the closed and locked door, slamming the heel of her hands against it. "No. NO! Get back here, you bastards!" She screamed. She knew they wouldn't come back. She turned around and looked at the ceiling and molding, looking for any weak point that she could get out of. She couldn't find any. "Walt, get in the corner." She ordered. She waited for the boy to retreat before she started moving all the electronic devices and tables she could, looking for any possible escape routes. She still couldn't find any. What the Hell? She knew that Ben probably would have Jack, Sawyer and Kate killed without her help. She had the sickening feeling that they would be walking to their deaths soon, and she couldn't even warn them. "No. No, no, no." The thought came out in more than a whimper than anything. She turned around and held onto the edges of the table she had been on until her knuckled turned white, trying to get her emotions in check. With her luck, she would've exploded at Walt of all people.

"… Ms. Payton?"

Jane flinched. She should've known that was coming. "… What is it, honey?" She looked at Walt.

Walt frowned. "… Was… was Mr. Linus telling the truth? Is my dad leading Mr. Shephard, Mr. Ford, Hurley and Ms. Austin into a trap… and who's Mr. Ford? I keep hearing that name?"

"It's Sawyer, Walt. James Ford is Sawyer, and… I don't know. I hate to say it, but… he might be, buddy." Her heart broke. She felt like she had just started cracking the trust Walt had gained for his father. "But you know what? I'm gonna find a way out of this. I'm gonna find a way, and no one's gonna get hurt- not your dad, not Jack, not Sawyer, not Kate- not even you. I'm not gonna let that happen, okay?" She replied.

Walt looked at her, then his feet. "… I'm scared."

Jane frowned and walked over to him, pulling him into a hug. "I know, Sweetheart. I won't lie to you, so am I. That's why we gotta stick together right now, okay?"

Walt nodded after a moment.

Jane sighed. "Look, Walt. That guy Richard… he… he mentioned my sister… said she'd come in in a few minutes… do you know… is she okay?"

Walt nodded more eagerly this time. "She's fine. She said Ethan treated her nicely… and then when we killed Ethan, Richard took over and treated her even better."

Jane's heart sunk once again, but rose when she realized that meant Toni had talked to her- maybe even recently. "Did… did she ever look upset, or did she say they hurt her, or…?"

Walt shook his head. "… No. She said they would never hurt her." Walt replied.

"Naturally." Jane frowned.

The two sat in silence for a while, until they heard the door open again. Walt scrambled behind Jane, and Jane backed up as far as possible. The door opened all the way, and Jane found herself looking at Toni-Anne.

Toni-Anne gaped at her, then finally found words. "Jane, I-"

"No. You don't get to talk unless you're answering questions right now." Jane replied.

Toni-Anne frowned. "What?"

"Why? Why are you here? Was that really you all those times I saw you- when Jack and I heard you? How long have you been here? Why didn't you just… face this people and find a way to let me know you were okay? Did they hurt you?"

"Jane, I don't think-"

"ANSWER ME!" Jane screamed so loud her entire body shook.

Toni-Anne looked like she was on the verge of tears, and for once, Jane didn't seem to care. "Yes… they were all me. That was my way of showing you I was okay- they threatened me too, Jane. They threatened to kill me if I so much as talked to you. I've been here since Ethan left your camp with the others. No one's hurt me. I've stuck with Ethan and Richard- they're good people."

"Ethan tried to kill Jack, Charlie and I, came damn close with Charlie, and kidnapped and drugged Claire, Toni! He's not a good person!" Jane snapped.

"You didn't know him like I did-"

"You shouldn't have even known him that way!" Jane argued.

"Well, I did."

"… Gabby's alive." Jane blurted, changing tactics.

Toni-Anne frowned. "… What?"

"Gabby's alive. That… wasn't her on the beach the first day. You would know that if you were with us the whole time- if you had come back- we would've protected you."

Toni-Anne stared, then looked down. "That's good to hear, but… I'm protected just fine, here."

Jane stared at her, then scoffed. "… And to think I've never believed in brainwashing. Hell, they've done a number on you, haven't they? I tell you our big sister is alive, and you barely react, but I complain about… these people and that's what sets you off?" Jane demanded.

"I'm just letting you know I've been treated well. There's no need to be hostile." She replied.

Jane frowned. "Did they put you up to this? Are they telling you to say this?"

"No. I'm just sick and tired of friends getting hurt. These people are my friends now. I don't want them to get hurt, either."

Jane looked her sister in the eye. "Get out."

Toni-Anne frowned. "What…?"

"If I'm being held here, that makes this room home for however long this takes. I don't want you anywhere I call home right now."

"Jane, you can't mean that. I'm telling you the truth. Please, I'm your sister-"

"Not right now, you're not." Jane replied.

Toni-Anne gawked at her, then slowly turned and exited the room.

Jane stared at the door for a while, then took a couple of steps forward and away from Walt before she punched the wall. "Sorry you had to see that, Walt."

Walt nodded. "It's okay…"

She laughed sarcastically, then sighed. "No, Walt. It's not."

Walt hesitated for a few moments, then looked at her. "So… what do we do?"

"We have to wait for them to make the next move, otherwise we're stuck."

"And what happens when they do?" Walt replied.

Jane frowned. "… I have to agree to their terms and work for them… and hope for the best that they don't screw me over, which they probably will, or something doesn't go horribly, horribly wrong."


	16. Countdown

**A/N: And here's Live Together, Die Alone Part 1, which means this is the first to last chapter. That is, unless I can get enough creativity going to come up with another chapter, then move onto the sequel- which hopefully answers those three people who asked- I will be doing all of the seasons of the show for the series. It would be kind of lame if I didn't, wouldn't it? Anyways, enjoy, and pardon the shortness of the chap. It's basically only two scenes, and the first is barely a page, so... anyways, I'll shut up.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Jane stopped throwing the wrench she had found the previous hour against the door when she heard the telltale creak of its knob being turned. She scooted back to where Walt was sitting and waited for the door to open. She frowned when the person on the other side seemed to anticipate an attack, because when they opened the door, they paused before opening it the rest of the way.<p>

Ben slipped inside first, and Richard came in next. While Ben seemed calm and collected, Jane couldn't help but notice Richard looked honestly remorseful.

Ben tilted his head. "Have you made your decision yet?"

"The Hell do you think? I told you I'm not helping you!" Jane spat.

Ben sighed. "You know, I really didn't want to do this…"

Jane frowned. "Do what…?" She stepped back and reached for Walt, and the boy practically launched himself at her side, getting a vicegrip on her hand.

Ben frowned. "It's nothing about the boy, I assure you. He can come with us when we show you, at least…" He began.

Jane frowned, then swallowed hard when Richard went over and took her arm. Ben left the room, and Richard followed, pulling the two of them after him. When Ben was a few paces ahead, the black-haired man turned to her. "For your and your friends' sakes, agree to work for us this time." He whispered.

Jane frowned and pulled Walt closer before looking around, frantically searching for an exit of any kind. She straightened up when Ben opened another door and held it open for them. Richard led her inside. Jane's breath caught in her throat when she took in the various screens that spanned one wall. A desk was in front of them that had a device with a few switches and knobs on it, and a couple of chairs set up as well. "What is this…?"

"Our security room- where you'll be working, if you agree to our terms." Ben replied.

"What makes you think I've changed my mind?" Jane snapped.

Ben shrugged. "This," He flicked one of the switches, and half of the screens lit up, then revealed several different scenes. Jane frowned when she recognized half of them were various areas of her camp.

Ben sighed. "You know, I don't think the order I gave you before was very… accurate."

Jane didn't like the sound of that at all. She hesitantly walked over when Ben sat and motioned at her to walk forward. She couldn't help but notice it took a moment longer than needed for Richard to let go of her.

"You see, Jane, you should know by now that playing fair isn't my strong suit, and being that Michael is taking more time than we wanted…" He turned two knobs, and the images rearranged themselves, then all but three faded. Ben took the walkie-talkie off of his belt and held it up. "Ryan, are you there?"

Jane inhaled sharply when she took them in. The far left had a man who she assumed was an Other was laying down on the ground. Jane swallowed hard, seeing the unmistakable shape of a sniper rifle in his hands. She looked around, trying to recognize wherever the Other- Ryan, she assumed, was. She knew people like Ben. They loved playing games, but they were always serious with these things. Which meant one of her people were in very, very serious danger. Just where the Hell was…? She tried not to cry out when the camera scanned right. Call her a worrier, or a drama queen, but she knew the boulder that had just come into view beside him. She had passed it too many times. Which meant… She glanced to the middle feed, and sure enough, her fears were answered. There was the image from another camera, and she recognized that area as a different angle from that of the one on the left- and it was facing whatever Ryan was looking at- and at the top of the screen, Sawyer paced idly. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized he kept glancing to the right- where she probably would've been sitting if she was there. She had it figured out. If she said no, Ben was going to give the order and Sawyer would be shot- and at the range she calculated from the feeds, there was little chance of missing- and therefore a very high chance of Sawyer getting murdered in cold blood. "You son of a bitch…" She forced out.

Ben shrugged. "I told you I don't play fair. Now, if you keep refusing…" He pressed a button on the walkie talkie. "Prepare to shoot, Ryan."

Jane's stomach turned when Ryan held up the gun and got situated onscreen.

"No…" Jane shook her head. "No. You're just gonna kill him anyway."

"Well, not immediately, and not for you to see if you agree on our terms." Ben replied. He held up the walkie talkie. "Steady…" He looked at Jane.

Jane shook her head. "No. Screw you. I will never work for the people who killed my friends."

Ben sighed. "Fine," He replied. He pressed the walkie-talkie button again. "Ten seconds, Ryan. Shoot, then come back."

Jane shook her head. _No. No._ She refused to let herself fall for it. _This is ridiculous. It's just a game._ As much as she tried to repeat that in her head, when the six second mark rolled around, another part of her was screaming that wasn't the case. It was back to screaming that she was about to watch Sawyer- her best friend on the island, dare she say it, be killed.

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two… Ryan's pointer finger moved to the trigger.

One...

"STOP! FINE, I'LL DO IT, YOU HAVE ME!" She screamed. She could only watch as her heart skipped a beat when Ryan pulled the trigger completely- and nothing happened. There was no gunshot, but there was a clear, hollow, ping. It was fake. Nothing was in the gun. Sawyer was okay. It had in fact, been a game- and she had fallen for it and agreed to be their security. She whimpered and felt her knees gave way. She glanced at Walt and Richard out of the corner of her eye. She spotted Richard's white-knuckle hold on Walt's shoulders relax stiffly. Just what was his own game…?

Ben looked at her and nodded before giving Ryan the order to come back. He got to his feet, and looked at Richard. "Richard will show you how to work the controls. I have other things to attend do. Walt will have to leave with him shortly."

Jane didn't bring herself to respond- even in a threat. There were far too many words coming to mind that she didn't want to explain to Michael that his son learned them from her. He had already gotten an earful in the last few hours.

After a few moments, Richard stepped forward and offered his hand to help her up. He wasn't at all surprised when Jane slapped his hand away and sent him a look far more venomous than any of the ones he had received from her in the past couple of days. "Jane, I didn't…"

"Show me what you needed to show me, then get out. You people got what you wanted through cheap tricks. What more could you do?" She snarled. When he didn't move, she barked out "Now!"

Richard did as he was told, and within a few minutes, Jane had the basic idea of what she needed to do, and made it quite evident that she didn't want to know it. When Richard announced he had to leave and take Walt with him, Jane merely looked at Walt and offered as much of a reassuring smile as she could muster before turning back to the screens.

She toyed with the various controls, telling herself it was the only thing that could keep her from having a breakdown then and there. She didn't last long. She had to stop to try and justify how easily she had fallen for Ben's game. The same part of her than panicked about nearly losing Sawyer seemed insistent that it had been the right thing to do. She had acted properly to protect her friend, and at this rate, helping the Others was better than watching him die. While that satisfied her, it still didn't help with the knot in her stomach. She glanced back at the screens and therefore camera angles she had assembled, and flinched. Michael was leading Jack, Sawyer, Hurley and Kate into the jungle- and right into further danger. "I'm sorry, guys…" She muttered before she even realized it. "I am so sorry."

She kept it up for most of the afternoon, into the evening and night. She tried to get every angle so she could follow her friends' journey to make sure nothing bad happened to them before they got to… wherever they needed to get to. She glanced at the far right, where Ben had set up several pictures of the man he had spoken about- Charles Widmore, and some of his own team that she was supposed to search for. She growled under her breath. She was alone, she was sure as Hell going to worry about her friends over watching out for those bastards. Hell, Ben probably planned that aspect too, but she couldn't find any motivation to care. She lost track of them at least four times before her body seemed to deny her any energy to continue on. She fell asleep in the chair, and was out for several hours.

She woke to the sound of muffled gunshots. She jerked out of sheer instinct, sending herself falling out of the chair. She scrambled to her feet and tried to find the source, relaxing only slightly when she realized the sounds were coming from the televisions. She fiddled with the knobs until she spotted what she was looking for. It was a shootout- between her friends and who she had no doubt were random Others. Just what the Hell had she missed? She toyed with the knobs again until a few of the cameras zoomed in. The gunshots ceased, and Jane swallowed hard when she saw Jack and Sawyer crouch-walking by the bottom of the frame. They didn't look injured, and neither did Kate when she walked into frame. "Be careful… goddamn it Jack, don't put your gun down…" She tried to follow them again. She lost track of them, then came back when they had finished checking one of the bodies. Her heart skipped a beat when suddenly, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley all stiffened and looked at Michael. She leaned forward, trying her best to get another closer angle. Did Michael just give himself up? Why did Jack not look surprised? Was he onto Michael? She couldn't help but flinch when Jack grabbed Michael's collar and yelled at him to give them answers.

A moment later, Michael explained the plan Jane had heard from Ben. She leaned back and shook her head. Somehow, hearing it from Michael himself made it seem all the worse. Then the worst came.

The camera was facing the way Hurley was looking, but Jane didn't have to see his face to know Hurley was beyond hurt when he asked if Michael had killed Ana-Lucia and Libby, and Michael replied that he had to. "Oh, Hurley..." She muttered to herself, rubbing her mouth. Michael apologized a few seconds later, and Jane had to stop herself from screaming at him or punching the screen. She collected herself when Hurley went to leave, but Jack stopped him and explained he had to guess Ben would try to kill them all anyway. _At least Jack can see right through Ben._ She was almost too wrapped up in her own thoughts to realized Jack voiced something about a plan until Sawyer repeated it. She adjusted the volume, and then waited. Hell, for all she knew, Ben was watching her do the things somehow, but like so many moments in the last day, she just couldn't let herself care.

She'd be damned if she wouldn't find a way to help them from afar.


	17. Lists

**A/N: Alright, this is the last chapter. I'm not that inspired for a second one. The sequel info will be up soon. Anyways, forgive me if introducing Juliet in this chapter makes this her second time being introduced. I had a feeling I already did it, but couldn't find it, so I put it in. I know she's not supposed to be in so soon, but, well, tough. The quote that inspired this entire fic series is in this chapter, so… this is kinda awesome. Anyways, enjoy and don't forget to review.**

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><p>Jane turned her attention from the computer screens and to the door to the room when she heard the telltale metal clang of it being unlocked and opened. Ben stepped through with a tray with a glass of water and a sandwich on it. "Morning, Jane. I thought you might want to eat something before we all leave." He explained.<p>

"Leave where?" Jane demanded.

Ben shrugged and set down the tray. "That, I'm afraid, I can't tell you."

Jane scowled at him. "I can just check the damn screens here and work it out for myself."

"Not this time. You're coming with us." Ben replied.

Jane leaned back. "Why should I? You expect me to go willingly after you essentially had someone put a gun to my friend's head to… trick me into working with you?" She snapped. "You have me doing this. I'm not going anywhere with you."

Ben chuckled weakly. "Hm. You insist James is only a friend…"

Jane looked around. "The Hell is that supposed to mean?"

Ben shrugged. "Oh, I just assumed you two were more- how you behave to each other. You fight, but always come back for more. You defend him to no end. You give him far more chances than anyone else. Tell me, how does the doctor feel about your time with James, being that you two have gotten… closer?"

Jane glared up at him. "Leave the both of them alone- and out of this. It's none of your damn business as it is." Her frown deepened when a smirk grew on his face and she could just hear one of his dark chuckles coming. "What is it now, you soon of a bitch?"

Ben put his hands in his pockets. "Your situation here, with them, of course. The cop falls for the con…" He deadpanned, then looked her in the eye. "It's almost poetic."

Jane clenched her jaw and held onto the desk to keep from striking the man.

"Point is, Jane, if you don't help us, it's the same threat as before. Follow orders, help us, even doing as I ask and coming with us- Juliet, anyway… Mister Ford will die. I don't know how to be more clear on that."

Jane scowled. She hated him. She couldn't wait until she managed to escape this place, or get opportunity to get a weapon- preferably a gun. Ben would be added to the list of people who were in serious need of a bullet to the head- or kneecap, at least. She tried not to smirk when she recalled doing that to Ethan. Hell, he wasn't so hard to bring down. What would've made Ben any more difficult then him? It faded, remembering that as serious as she was about the unvoiced threat, he was as serious about Sawyer's life on the line as he was before. "… Where to, then?"

Ben nodded at the food and water. "Eat. You'll find out soon enough." He left without another word.

Jane took the food and water off the tray and tossed the object at the door for good measure. When it hit the door and fell to the floor, intact, she took the sandwich off the plate and made the plate follow after the tray. It also fell to the floor intact. Plastic. Goddamn it. She buried her face in her ands and groaned. She looked back at the monitors to see where her friends were, then looked at the controls, desperate to try and find some way of contacting them. Her heart skipped a bear when she saw three controls that she had been too angry and distracted to see before- there was what looked like a small microphone on top of one of the panels, and under that were three buttons- 'Mic to Speakers', 'Mic to Stations', and 'Mic to Mic.' Hell, it was worth a shot, and if she got caught, she could probably just managed to get Ben to talk her ears off and try to intimidate her enough to give her friends time to get out of range from any gunman. It was now or never. She was only going to allow herself one try, just in case. Speakers sounded about right in this case. She pressed the button. "Guys, can you hear me? Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurl?" She glanced at the monitor she saw them moving on.

Sawyer, who was in the back of the group, turned abruptly and looked surprised. He glanced around quickly.

Jane leaned forward. He might've heard me. "Sawyer! Sawyer, it's Jane! Guys?" Her heart sank when Sawyer sighed, turned around and kept walking. _Either he didn't hear her that time, or they were just out of range of the speaker now._ She took her finger off the button and leaned back. "Great…" She wasn't going to try again. She rolled her eyes when her stomach growled, and she looked down at the sandwich. "Fine. You win this time…" She started eating, still keeping an eye out for anything that could help them. None showed up.

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><p>A few minutes later, Jane spotted movement on one of the screens that wasn't her friends. She leaned went to investigate and glanced at the Widmore people to see if it was them. However, they seemed more like Others, and when Jane worked out the screens again, they were headed towards her friends. "Shit. What're you scumbags doing, huh?" She looked for her friends again, and she spotted them enter the area with the pile of cannisters she had been curious about. She stood up and leaned forward to attempt to see whatever they were better. Kate knelt down and opened one. She took the notebook out, said something to Jack, and flipped through it. They all suddenly became alert and looked at something offscreen. Jane bit her lip, figuring they had heard the Other's gunman. Good. She looked back at her friends. "Run, damn it. Don't bother looking…" She frowned when Sawyer raised his gun, then the others did. "No, stop! Just go!"<p>

A moment later, Sawyer jerked and collapsed, as if shot. Hurley went down next. Jack yelled something, and Kate took off. Kate went down, and Jack picked her up to continue on. A couple of seconds later, he was down too.

Jane scowled. What had they been shot with? They had all gone down too smoothly for a bullet, so was it a tranquilizer? What the Hell was going on? She turned when the door opened, and a blonde woman walked in. "Where's Richard?" Jane demanded.

The woman sighed. "He thought it best he wasn't involved this time. My name's Juliet. I'm here to come get your for our little trip."

Jane sized up the woman. She could take her. She shook her head and pointed at the screen where the Others were moving in to get her friends. That was more important. "What the Hell did you do to them? What did they get shot with? Where are you taking them?"

Juliet stayed calm and collected. "They're fine," She deadpanned, in what Jane imagined would have been Ben's exact voice had he been a woman. "Just knocked out for a few minutes. You'll be able to see them where we're going. You just won't be able to talk to them."

"What's gonna stop me?" Jane demanded.

"This," Juliet hend up a handgun and pointed it squarely at Jane's chest. "Now, play the part of one of us when we get to where we're going. If you talk or warn them in any way, you get shot, and your friends find out you're still loyal to them. You know what that means? They get to watch their friend die before they die themselves." She replied.

Jane held onto the desk again and marked this new woman on the list of people who needed to get shot. At least Richard had started to seem genuinely remorseful about the whole damn thing. She stood up and walked over to wasn't surprised when Juliet approached her, grabbed her arm, and turned her around before leading her out of the room. Jane tried not to hiss in pain, feeling the gun pressed hard into her back. She wasn't getting out of this one easy, she knew that much. She started making as many mental notes about the doors, hallways and rooms of the building for later, if she ever needed it. The list continued with turns and directions taken after they exited the building and started down a dirt path.

Juliet and Jane made it to a dock, where several Others met them. Jane frowned when she recognized one of them as the man who put a gun to her head days ago. Juliet greeted him as 'Tom.' Jane marked him down for at least a pistol-whip.

He beamed at her. "Hey, Jane! Nice to see you on this side! How've ya been? Ben, Rich and Jules treating you right?"

"Go to Hell." Jane snarled. She didn't even care Juliet dug her gun into the cop's side more. It was worth it.

Tom's smile only faltered slightly. "Already there, Sweetheart."

A silence grew that lasted a few minutes. However, tension mounted in the air when another group of Others came into view. Jane swallowed hard when she recognized her friends getting dragged along with them. They all had sacks over their heads. Jane arched away when Juliet replaced the gun by her side again. She froze when she put it all together. Juliet was standing right beside her, but the way they were facing her friends made it impossible for them to see the gun, and she was far enough away with the exception of her hand to make it look like she had just happened to stop walking there. Juliet was trying to make it look like she was one of them- like she was another one of the Others' spies, like Ethan. _No._ She flinched when the Others who had her friends forced Sawyer, Jack, Kate and Hurley to their knees and Sawyer grunted in pain. When the sacks came off of their heads, Jane couldn't help the surge of pride at the familiarity of Sawyer's insult when the con spotted Tom, recognized him, and called him a son of a bitch. If it was anything that Sawyer could've said that couldn't have been lost behind the gag, it was that phrase. That pride came to an abrupt end when one of the others approached Sawyer and hit him with the butt of his rifle. Out of habit, Jane started to step forward, to yell at the man or get in front of Sawyer. Juliet grabbed her shirt and pulled her back.

However, the movement was enough to get her friends' attention. They finally seemed to notice her presence in the group.

Jane tried to keep as much of a poker face as possible when her friends apparently tried to work things out. Kate and Hurley looked from her to the rest of the Others and back continuously. Sawyer kept his eyes locked on her and no one else. Jack looked away from her to the Others and didn't look back. The latter two were the most unsettling to her. When she looked back at Sawyer, her heart broke when she spotted the mixed look of confusion, hurt and anger he was giving her. The fact Jack hadn't looked at her since wasn't at all helping. She expected contempt in the least, if he had fallen for it. Now she wasn't even sure if it was disappointment or what.

Kate mumbled something into her gag, directed at Tom.

"She said she knows your beard is fake, Tom." One of the Others informed him.

Tom laughed and peeled it off. "Well, thanks, Kate. You have no idea how much this beard itches. Thanks for telling them my name, Bee." He added, looking at the Other.

Jane glanced at Sawyer again, still feeling his eyes on her. He was still glaring. She tried to look as pleading as possible. _Please, we've been through so much- even just you and me alone. Don't believe I'm one of them. _His glaring kept up and she broke eye contact.

Everyone on the dock turned when they heard the sound of a boat approaching. Ben and two other people were on it. One of them was Walt. Ben got up and approached her friends.

Jack straightened out and looked murderous.

Ben nodded at him. "Hello again."

Jack tore his eyes from Ben and looked at Jane.

Jane tried not to sigh in relief when the murderous look dropped to something… she couldn't even recognize. Jack looked away a moment later. Jane couldn't tell if that look had been a good thing or a bad thing. She didn't want to know, at this rate.

Ben looked at Tom. "… Where's your beard?"

Tom arched an eyebrow. "I think… they know." He replied.

Ben pointed to Jane. "They didn't know about us getting her on our side early on. You _didn't know_ that the might not have put it together." Ben replied.

Jane clenched her jaw and tried not to start screaming. However, Sawyer took the opportunity. He yelled something into his gag- probably a threat- and he finally stopped looking at her to look at Ben briefly, then back to her as his yelling continued. When he nearly fell over from the effort it was taking for him to scream, he stopped and looked back at Jane. He huffed angrily around the gag and looked down.

Jane added a second bullet to Ben's name on the mental list to ensure the bastard would die.

Ben turned to Michael. "Alright, let's take care of business." He led Michael away, and the two started talking quietly.

Jane looked at the ground. She wasn't willing to take any more looks or glares from her friends at all. How could she when they probably believed what Ben had just told them? All she could do was pray that they didn't. However, with the glares she had received, chances were slim with that at best. She did,however, look up when a nearly blinding, white-purple light started up, as did a loud humming that got under her skin. Everyone hurried to close their eyes and cover their ears. The occurance lasted seconds, then suddenly stopped_. The Hell just happened?_

The ordeal didn't seem to phase Ben in the least. When everyone was recovering, Ben went right back to talking to Michael about 'business.' He motioned at the noat.

"What am I, stupid? Where's my son?" Michael shouted. "Walt? Walt!"

Walt jumped out of the boat a couple of seconds later and ran to Michael.

Jane sighed when the two hugged. Bad situation or not, it was good to see father and son reunited- and apparently about to go free. She watched as the two of them got onto the boat.

Bee approached Hurley. "Hugo, you're going back to your camp." She instructed.

Hurley looked around. "What…?"

"Go back. Your job is to tell the rest of your camp they can never come here." She continued.

Hurley hesitated. "But what about my friends?"

"Your friends are coming with us." She replied.

Hurley looked at Ben, who smiled in return.

"Go," Bee insisted.

Jane couldn't help the small smile that passed her lips when Hurley looked at Jack for permission to go. _A good teammate, through and through._ Jack nodded, and Hurley walked away.

Everyone watched him go, then turned when the boat roared to life and Michael showed up, driving it away.

Once the boat was a fair distance away, the Others approached Jane's friends to put the sacks back on their heads. Jane nearly felt sick when every set of eyes went to her before the sack when over their eyes. Jane let Juliet tug her away from the dock when the others were getting dragged the opposite way. They made it back to the building, and Juliet closed Jane back into the observation room.

Jane stared at the door for a while, then looked back at the screens.

_Okay, now what? _

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><p><strong>And so concludes Leave Out All the Rest. Tell me what you thought, and I'll get back in an AN chapter about what the sequel will be called and all that. Hoped you liked reading the fic as much as I liked writing it. In case you guys were curious, Ben saying "the cop falls for the con... it's almost poetic" is the quote that popped into my head like, three years ago that inspired this fic.**


	18. Sequel Info

Quick little update on the sequel and stuff, as promised.

The sequel's gonna be called "I'd Come for You". No preview this time. It'd give too much away, haha. A real-life friend of mine and put together a fanmix for the entire series so far and to come. It's just the list, no downloads, but they're popular enough that they're easy to find on youtube or such. It's on my profile, just like the link to the vids.

Hope you enjoyed Leave Out All the Rest, and will do the same with I'd Come For You.

Love you all,

PCl


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